National Jewish Health Night & Day Celebrity Golf Classic Raises Nearly $240,000

Two-Day Celebrity Golf Event Benefits Morgridge Academy for Chronically Ill Children

AUGUST 07, 2018

DENVER, CO — On July 22 and 23, Denver’s business and philanthropic leaders gathered with local sports and media celebrities for dinner and a round of golf to help provide a whole-child education for chronically ill students attending Morgridge Academy at National Jewish Health. The Night & Day Celebrity Golf Classic raised nearly $240,000 to benefit the school.
 

“Morgridge Academy is an important part of the mission of National Jewish Health, the leading respiratory hospital in the nation,” said Blair Richardson, former chair of the hospital’s board of directors.”

The students at this unique school are facing each day with chronic illnesses such as severe asthma and allergies, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and HIV/AIDS. Morgridge Academy provides a safe and healthy environment where students learn to manage their illnesses and succeed academically, medically and socially.

The two-day Celebrity Golf Classic included dinner and golf with local stars including Brandon McManus, Mark Schlereth and Jeff Heuerman. Co-chairs of the event were Marc Steron, managing partner of Shanahan’s, chair of the National Jewish Health development board, and member of the National Jewish Health board of directors; along with Vic Lombardi, who hosted his KSE Altitude Sports Radio show live from the event.

Celebrities, sponsors and attendees kicked off the event with dinner, cocktails and auctions at Shanahan’s, one of Denver’s top steakhouses. Items up for bid included golf at Pebble Beach Resorts, a diamond and sapphire bracelet from Trice Jewelers, a private dinner at Shanahan’s, as well as premier tickets to see the Rockies and Broncos play.

The Pebble Beach Resorts live auction package offered the opportunity to represent Morgridge Academy and compete for part of the Lexus charity purse prize at the 2018 Lexus Champions for Charity tournament in Pebble Beach, California. This is the second year in a row that this exclusive package was donated to the tournament by Kuni Lexus of Greenwood Village with airfare provided by United Airlines.

The second day of the event took the golfers and celebrities to the highly acclaimed Sanctuary golf course in Sedalia, Colorado. Among the golfers were Carrie and John Morgridge, for whom Morgridge Academy was renamed. Through their family foundation, the couple have been steadfast supporters of National Jewish Health. 

The funds raised at the Night & Day Celebrity Golf Classic support the critical academic and medical education provided to the students at Morgridge Academy. 

In addition to Lombardi and Steron, the National Jewish Health Night & Day Celebrity Golf Classic committee included Nick Anderson, Joe Assell, Stanton Dodge, David Engleberg, Marc Paolicelli, Laszlo Pook, Meyer Saltzman, John Spagnola and Gregg Stone.

RE/MAX was the presenting sponsor of the tournament. Contributing sponsors were Sanctuary and Shanahan’s, while Birdie Foursome sponsors were Greiner Electric and Jetlinx. See the complete list of sponsors online.

 

Celebrities supporting the Golf Classic included:

99.5 FM The Mountain’s Rich Goins
Altitude Radio Sports Commentator and Analyst Todd Romero
Altitude Sports Host and Former Denver Bronco Ryan Harris
Altitude Sports Host Lauren Gardner
Altitude TV Reporter and Host Julie Browman
Colorado Avalanche Sportscaster Marc Moser
Former Colorado Avalanche Rick Berry
Current Denver Broncos Jeff Heureman, Bill Kollar and Brandon McManus
Former Denver Broncos Charlie Adams, Justin Bannan and Erik Pears
Sportscaster and Former Denver Bronco Mark Schlereth
Former CU Buff and NFL Player Derek West
Former KDVR Fox 31 Evening News Anchor Ron Zappolo
KUSA 9News Afternoon Anchor Tom Green
Former Denver Nugget Mark Randall
Denver Nuggets Sportscaster Chris Marlowe
CEO/Co-Founder Gold Crown Foundation and Color Analyst for the Denver Nuggets Bill Hanzlik
NFL Veteran Joel Dreessen
Certified NFL Agent Peter Schaffer
Professional Golfer Shane Bertsch
Reality TV Star “The Bachelor” Ben Higgins
Former Colorado Rockies Steve Reed
Sports Columnist and ESPN Panelist Woody Paige

 

Morgridge Academy at National Jewish Health is a unique, free day school for chronically ill students in kindergarten through eighth grades. Its mission is to provide a safe, friendly and healthy school environment where students succeed academically, medically and socially.

 

For more contact Janna Fisher at 303.728.6576 or FisherJ@njhealth.org.
 njhgolfclassic.org
 

National Jewish Health is the leading respiratory hospital in the nation. Founded 124 years ago as a nonprofit hospital, National Jewish Health today is the only facility in the world dedicated exclusively to groundbreaking medical research and treatment of patients with respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders. Patients and families come to National Jewish Health from around the world to receive cutting-edge, comprehensive, coordinated care. To learn more, visit the media resources page.