• BETHLEHEM TWP., Pa.
Even with the slumping economy, longtime fundraiser Joe Douress says he hopes to attract a crowd similar to last year’s at his golf outing. Douress, who has organized the Heroes Charity Golf Tournament for the last 18 years, says attendance looks to be down slightly. He says he is still looking for last-minute entries to bring the number up to par. “Certainly when you start planning something like this with the backdrop of the economy, you wonder how it’s going to turn out,” Douress said. The golf outing, which will be held in late May at Green Pond Country Club, typically attracts about 200 people. Since it began in 1992, Douress says his outings have taken in nearly $300,000 that has been distributed to local charities and scholarship funds. Last year, the $18,000 collected went to the Barry L. Bush memorial scholarship and to charities that provide support to children with cancer, Douress says.
Douress originally started the fundraiser as a way to help children with cancer, following the death of his 12-year-old nephew, Sean Michael Morris.