Golfing Fore Autism; Lucas’ Steps of Sheffield held its 15th annual golf tournament in June at Ridge Stone Golf Club as a way to raise money for Els for Autism, a 501(c)(3) organization established in 2009 by professional golfer, Ernie Els.
The driving force behind Els for Autism is the Els family’s personal connection through their son, Ben, who is affected by autism which impacts 1 in 36 children in the United States.
Tracy Shreckengost is the organizer for Golfing Fore Autism; Lucas’ Steps and tells RadioOnTheGo News her team is one of about 15 across the country that help raise money for Els for Autism. The organization offers virtual services and in-person programs at The Els Center of Excellence campus in Jupiter, Florida which opened in August 2015.
“There’s 300 students, upper and lower class, that are being taught school. You know, they learn daily life of making beds, your kitchen work, your laundry. They’re learning all those different aspects of life to take them onto their life skills. As we become adults, two years ago they opened the Adult Service Center. So as they transition from high school, what do they do? So they open an Adult Service Center. So they work with teaching them life skills, everything they need to know. There’s a lot of places that are hiring. They opened a little café at the school so they can learn how to cook. They help people nationwide. There’s a website, so they’re able to utilize different aspects of the center and what they’re learning to help their own children and schooling systems.”
Shreckengost says they have raised nearly $600,000 since joining the Els Golf Challenge in 2011. Since 2020, they have held a raffle as part of the golf tournament and this year’s raffle drawing was held at the RadioOnTheGo studios Tuesday. Three $500 raffle winners were drawn; Sheri Bogue of Sheffield, Ronnie Behr of Rockwell and Mike Dorenkamp of Sheffield. The $1,000 raffle winner was Megan Helm of Lake Mills and the $1,500 winner was the Clear Lake Boats group.
A link to the Els for Autism website can be found here.
