Helping the Chaffee Zoo, one swing at a time

Fresno State marketing fraternity Pi Sigma Epsilon plans to donate the proceeds of a charity golf tournament to the Chaffee Zoo's Angel Fund; amount expected to exceed $3,500

By Rebekah Herbert

The lives of sea lions, elephants and other animals at the Chaffee Zoo will become a little more comfortable after about 100 golfers tee off for Pi Sigma Epsilon’s RainSoft Golf Tournament on Sept. 26.

The Fresno State marketing fraternity started developing the idea during the summer for the charity golf tournament in an effort to help raise money for the Chaffee Zoo.

The fraternity plans to donate more than $3,500 for various zoo repairs.

Zoo Administrator Shelley Morrison is very excited about the contribution.

“I think it’s wonderful and extraordinary for them to do this,” Morrison said.

She said the money would go into the Angel Fund, where it is most needed for maintenance around the zoo.

“We have reopened the rainforest bridge, that was a big project. We need to put in a filter system for the sea lions so we don’t have to empty and refill their water each day and we need to patch sidewalks that are a hazard,” Morrison said.

PSE’s VP of Marketing, Kristen Jack, said planning the golf tournament not only helped the zoo, but also helped give the fraternity members more real-world experience.

“We wanted to be involved with something that’s obviously important to the community,” Jack said.
“We were trying to raise money for a great cause and get experience at the same time,” she said.
Marc Maguire, co-chair for the project, said the fraternity got about 25 different sponsors to help with the tournament costs and give money to the zoo.

The sponsors’ donations range from covering the cost of printing T-shirts to providing various raffle prizes.

A core sponsor, Kitahara, is donating a 2004 Buick Rainier as a hole-in-one prize.

The team of four who wins the tournament will also receivefour rounds of golf at the Saddle Creek Golf Resort and gift certificates for the Riverbend golf shop.

Maguire said all the donations they have been given, including the $2,000 KMJ radio donated in PSA airtime, adds up to about $9,000.

“We want to cover all the expenses, but we don’t want to make money beyond that for ourselves,” Maguire said. “We want this tournament to be really nice to make sure our participants have a great time and we would like it to become an annual thing.”

RainSoft Water Treatment Systems is the largest sponsor of the tournament.

Javier Macias, a customer service representative for RainSoft, said the company was sold on the idea as soon as they heard that proceeds were being donated to the zoo.

“We are big supporters of the zoo,” Macias said. “We want to inform the community on details of the zoo and how bad it needs community support.”

Macias said RainSoft is excited to be sponsoring such a worthy cause and hopes that this tournament will get its name out to the public and create awareness that local businesses can support local charities.

Other expenses covered by the participant charge of $95 and the donations are the pampering and gifts the players receive.

All the participants receive a welcome gift bag, a continental breakfast, range balls, golf cart, unlimited water, a barbecue tri-tip lunch put on by the course and other prizes.

“We are very proud of our committee,” said Paul Takhar, a member of the tournament committee.

“We had a lot of dedication and we met about once a week during the summer,” he said.

Both Maguire and Takhar credit the idea of the golf tournament to Jack.

“I was thinking of something fun to do over the summer,” Jack said. “Marc, Paul and I were in a computer lab and I mentioned the idea of a golf tournament, just kidding about the idea, but then we just went with it.”

Making the golf tournament a reality wasn’t an easy road for the members of PSE.
Though the fraternity has its expenses covered, getting sponsors was not as easy as the members thought.

“Most of the sponsors came out of knowing someone,” Jack said. “Letters were not as successful when we sent them to different businesses. When we walked in and handled it personally we were much more successful.”

The fraternity is appreciative of the skills and practice the members gained by putting on such a big event.

“We wore nice shirts and ties when we went to visit possible sponsors,” Maguire said. “We wanted to show them that we were serious about this.”

Maguire, Takhar and Jack all agree that the cause and where the money was going convinced most sponsors to take part in the event.

The fraternity is expecting close to 100 players in the tournament and will be presenting a large check to Ray Navarro, the zoo supervisor, after the tournament is over. Maguire said the check will be about $3,500, more than they expected they would be able to give.

The tournament will be held at Riverbend Golf Course in Madera.

“I am just very thrilled about this,” Takhar said. “Any way I can save the zoo I want to be a part of it.”