News & Press
2017 Champion Cares Golf Invitational Sets Event Record for Charitable Giving
SUNBURY, OH – The 14th Annual Champion Cares Golf Invitational welcomed 135 golfers to Northstar Golf Club on August 11 to help raise more than $100,000 for its partner charities.
An event that grows year-after-year, the CCGI benefits The Champion Cares Foundation, which is the philanthropic initiative of Westerville-based multi-family investment firm The Champion Companies.
“Once again we have been overwhelmed with support from our business partners and friends,” said Michelle Yeager-Thornton, co-founder and COO of The Champion Companies. “Every dollar donated to our golf outing this year is going to make a tremendous impact on the lives of those in need.”
More than 50 Central Ohio companies participated in the event, as well as 25 individual donors. Such enthusiastic support led to a CCGI fundraising record of $110,000. This year, The YWCA Family Center of Central Ohio, and the Children’s Hunger Alliance were beneficiaries of the event, receiving $50,000 each.
Yeager-Thornton also took the opportunity to announce that The Champion Cares Foundation would be participating in its first home build later this year with Habitat for Humanity. The additional $10,000 raised from the event would go toward that project.
“The need is real, and there is need right here in our backyard,” Yeager-Thornton said. “We are proud to partner with these great organizations, to help them further their missions of providing food and shelter to those less fortunate in our community.”
Champion and its team members are involved in several initiatives throughout the year that support local charities, including serving meals at the YWCA Family Center and sponsoring Children Hunger Alliance’s annual Taste to Remember.
“Giving back to the community is the foundation on which we do business at Champion,” Brian Yeager, president and CEO, said. “We are fortunate that we get to work with other great Central Ohio companies who share our focus on social responsibility and who graciously support the mission of The Champion Cares Foundation.”
About Champion
Founded in 2010, Champion is a full-service, multi-family investment and management firm. Champion currently owns and manages nearly 5,000 apartments within Central Ohio, with 12 communities in the growing cities of Columbus (Easton), Dublin, Hilliard, Lewis Center (Polaris), Sunbury, Westerville and Worthington. Champion has been recognized several times for its philanthropic efforts, receiving a Medical Mutual Pillar Award for Community Service and a Columbus Business First Corporate Caring Award both in 2015 and 2017.
About Children’s Hunger Alliance
Children’s Hunger Alliance is the largest sponsor of home-based child care providers in Ohio, reimbursing them for the meals and snacks they serve to children. They increase easy access to nutritious food by helping guide school breakfast programs and assisting Ohio Summer Food Service sponsors in providing meals and snacks at summer feeding locations.
About The YWCA Family Center
The YWCA Family Center provides emergency shelter and critical services to stabilize homeless families in Central Ohio. A national model, its goal is to help families find housing within three weeks of entering the program.