Annual tournament raises $600,000 for charities
By Edward O'Hare
(Above) Tucson, Arizona, provided a beautiful backdrop for the 3rd Annual Chubb Charity Challenge in November. (Left) Terry Cavanaugh, managing director and senior vice president at Chubb & Son, speaks at the Chubb Charity Challenge's awards ceremony.
It's called the Chubb Charity Challenge. The game is golf. The challenge: to shoot your personal best--a par round for low handicappers, or breaking 100 and realizing the duffer's dream--and do it with money on the line. But this wasn't some Wednesday afternoon game where the stakes were a $5 Nassau or 50-cent skins. It was to play for big money--nearly $600,000--and give it all to hundreds of charities across the United States and Canada, many of them scrambling to make up shortfalls in today's tight economy.
This was the challenge faced by teams of independent agents, their customers and Chubb representatives in a unique and rewarding two-tier event sponsored by the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies last year. In the first tier, more than 300 teams, totaling 1,532 players, competed in 40 regional tournaments between May and October 2002. The top 46 teams then squared off in the second tier--a two-day, two-round shootout in November at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Arizona.
As in the regionals, each team in the finals (more than 200 golfers) played for its favorite charity. As one might expect in a high stakes, pro-like tournament, there were both highs and lows from the tees to the greens. There were a few John Daly-like drives, some Tiger Woods putting, even a hole-in-one. There were also the slices from quick back swings, duffed chip shots and misreads on the greens. But when the last putt dropped, there were winners all around--the golfers who met the challenge and their charities, all of which shared in the whopping $600,000 pool.
And what a grand mosaic they make up: marquee names like March of Dimes, United Way and American Cancer Society, and local organizations providing care and comfort for, among others, at-risk children, the disabled, the deaf, the blind and abandoned animals.
"The Chubb Charity Challenge has become a big win for local charities all over the country," says Thomas Motamed, chief operating officer and vice-chairman of Chubb. "The zeal and commitment that the agents have shown to support their charities of choice from the early rounds to the finals in November were inspiring. We at Chubb are glad to sponsor this tournament, which gives back to many communities in a very special way."
Terry Cavanaugh, managing director and senior vice president of Chubb & Son, started the Chubb Charity Challenge as an all-New Jersey tournament. It was an immediate hit with agents because it allowed them to play for charities in their own communities. When he moved to the Chicago office, he expanded the tournament to the Midwest. After he was transferred back to New Jersey, the growing popularity of the event convinced him to take it countrywide.
"This tournament has become a hallmark event for Chubb," says Cavanaugh, adding that Chubb underwrites the entire cost of the event, using money that had formerly been set aside each year to treat its producers and customers to a six-day outing at the U.S. Open. The prize money comes from the $1,500 entry fee each team pays to play in the 40 regional tournaments. And every dollar collected goes to the charities, with the amounts based on where the teams place in the tournaments. In its three years of existence, the Chubb Charity Challenge has raised some $1.5 million.
The top five winning teams and their charities were:
Higginbotham & Associates (Fort Worth, Texas), $50,000 to Happy Hill Farm Academy/Home
Insurance Alliance (Houston, Texas), $35,000 to Camp For All
Schiff, Kreidler-Shell (Cincinnati, Ohio), $30,000 to Ohio Valley
Oral School
Biddle & Company (Wayne, Pennsylvania), $25,000 to Pennsylvania School for the Deaf
USI of Southern California Insurance Services (Los Angeles), $20,000 to Valley Presbyterian Hospital
Coming at the end of the year, the money is like an unexpected bonus and a real helping hand for these charities to start the new year. Here's how some of them will spend the money.
Ed Shipman, founder of Happy Hill Farm, a residential school for at-risk children ages 5 to 18, said: "The $50,000 prize will be used in the Farm's Scholarship Program to assist in underwriting children who come seeking help, but whose families, if there is a family, have no funding. We are excited and grateful for the achievement of our friends at Higginbotham and Associates. They are not just good golfers, but good friends as well."
Vicki LaRue, head of Camp For All, said the $35,000 will be used for weekend and summer camps for young adults with chronic illnesses and disabilities. "It's tremendous to receive this money--particularly now with fundraising so much more challenged. What Chubb did is phenomenal, to raise this money and turn it all back to charities." One of the young adults who attends the summer camp is Travis Berger, who suffers from Williams Syndrome. He's the son of Jim Berger, of Insurance Alliance, who played on its team.
Bob Murphy, who helped found the Ohio Valley Oral School, said the $30,000 means more children like his 9-year-old daughter, Christine, will receive specialized training in learning to speak. "This donation will be matched by another foundation, so you could say it's actually worth $60,000," said Murphy, who is with Schiff, Kreidler-Shell.
Joseph E. Fischgrund, headmaster of the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, said: "The gift made possible by Biddle & Company through the Chubb Charity Challenge golf tournament will be used to support the building of the school's new Early Childhood Center. In today's difficult fundraising environment, this gift is truly a major event for PSD, and we are deeply grateful to both Biddle & Company and the entire Chubb insurance group."
David Kelly, executive vice president of Kelly Benefit Strategies, part of the Kelly & Associates Insurance Group, Wilmington, Delaware, tees off during the Chubb event. Kelly played for the MBNA (Philadelphia) team, which raised money for the MBNA Foundation.
There's an interesting background story to the Biddle win. Jim Flatt recalled that his team went to the 2001 Chubb Charity Challenge in St. Augustine, Florida, with the best of intentions but not quite aware of the scale and scope of the tournament. But they were so moved by a video about the previous year's top charity that they dedicated themselves to a better effort in 2002. They even got to Tucson two days early for practice rounds that he said helped them win fourth prize.
David Fleming, chairman of the board of Valley Presbyterian Hospital, said the $20,000 would be used to buy diagnostic equipment for a new six-story patient tower. He noted that the full-service hospital is the last independently owned community hospital in the San Fernando Valley.
The event drew high praise from the golfers. A few of the comments:
Wendy Miller of Hays Companies in Milwaukee, whose charity was Children's Hospital Foundation: "It was a fantastic event and a great way to bring a lot of people in our industry together for a common cause."
Ron Cohen of Hiram Cohen & Son of Williston Park, New York: "Everybody got something for the charity of their choice." Cohen also got a pleasant surprise while watching television before heading out to the golf course. NBC's Today Show ran a report on his charity--Guiding Eyes for the Blind.
Brooke Hunter, managing partner of Hunter Keilty Muntz & Beatty, Toronto, Canada, prepares to strike the ball during the Chubb tournament.
Brooke Hunter of Hunter Keilty Muntz & Beatty of Toronto: "This was Hunter Keilty's first time at the Chubb Charity Challenge; therefore, our expectations as to our performances on these courses were low. We were pleasantly surprised to have done as well as we did, possibly due to our secret weapon, (Chubb Canadian zone manager) Jan Tomlinson. We won $5,000 in support of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, which provides young people from all walks of life with an opportunity for a challenging and rewarding program of personal development through practical, cultural and adventurous activities of skill, physical development and community service."
Jim Krause of Higginbotham & Associates: "It gives us a lot of exposure to many worthy charities."
Said Andy Zehnder of USI: "I play in a lot of golf tournaments, and this is one of the best, especially with its focus on giving to so many charities. I look forward to playing again this year."
Margaret Carlson, who played on the team of TLA Insurance of New Haven, Connecticut, and who sits on the board of its charity, Boys & Girls Club of Stamford, said: "I'm overwhelmed at how the tournament was organized and run. I'm amazed at Chubb's generosity in support of these charities all around the country. I wish more corporations would follow its lead in sponsoring such events."
As well as competitors, the golfers also saw themselves as allies joined in a common cause. At social functions, they eagerly exchanged information about their charities and unique ways they may have developed to replace sources of funding that have dried up. And when the talks got personal and the pictures came out of the wallets, they were more likely to show their kids who competed in Special Olympics than made all-state in high school; a new wing on a hospital rather than a new addition to a summer home; and some stray dogs saved from the streets rather than ones on their way to the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
At the awards banquet they learned how much they had won for their charities before heading home with pride and satisfaction in the good they had done, and with a pledge to play many more rounds in preparation for the 2003 Chubb Charity Challenge. *
The author
Edward O'Hare is a New York-based freelance writer.