Several years ago, Kent Kruse and his management team set out to make a difference for families who are experiencing the challenges, both financial and emotional, of having a child undergoing medical treatment. Whether illness or injury, these families endure the unimaginable as they journey through the diagnosis and treatment.

One way they knew they could help in a meaningful way, and also offer an opportunity for colleagues and competitors to network and have fun, was to host a golf tournament.

It started small but has since grown to fill up the 36 team slots. Last year, Kruse was happy to provide more than $45,000 to Kansas Children’s Foundation to help with programs within Wesley Children’s Hospital (like music therapy and oncology/hematology services), individual assistance to help families pay for treatment related travel and medical equipment needs. Over the past few years, the tournament has raised nearly $100,000 that has helped Kansas kids.

If you attended in 2022, you surely would remember Emmett! As a child with Down Syndrome, Emmet would have trouble swallowing and eating. If he aspirated some food, he would have a tendency toward pneumonia. Because of that, he spent lots of time in the children’s hospital. Experiencing music therapy and seeing a therapy dog named Carl (also gifted to Wesley Children’s Hospital by Kansas Children’s Foundation) helped Emmet and his family to experience some joy during their hospitalization and Emmet certainly loved his music therapy. His mom, Greta, shared with us how without even realizing it, they were benefitting from KCF programs within the hospital, and she knew she wanted to take any opportunity to share how it made their time less stressful and even enjoyable.

We would love for you to participate in the event again and to know how your support is making life easier for families who, instead of taking their children to swimming lessons or ballet, are going to infusion appointments or physical therapy. It’s a different and many times harder life, but they appreciate all we’ve helped do for them.

Again, thank you for joining us in this very worthwhile endeavor!

Kent, Janine, Chad, Noah and team!