Ravenna Helps America’s Heroes Again

After a 2020 marked by declining donations and an escalating mental-health crisis in the community it serves, the Infinite Hero Foundation returns to The Club at Ravenna to help wounded veterans and their families.

By Jon Rizzi

Last year, even as the pandemic forced the cancellation of 11 PGA TOUR events including the 149th Open Championship, tournament organizers, sponsors and their partners still managed to provide a substantial level of philanthropy for the many charitable organizations their annual events support.

By and large, this was not the case when local charities had to cancel their 2020 tournaments during a time when their beneficiaries needed them most.

A notable casualty on last year’s schedule was The Club at Ravenna‘s 7th Ravenna Invitational benefiting the Infinite Hero Foundation (IHF).

Founded in 2012, IHF has connected military, veterans and their family members with innovative and effective treatment programs for service-related injuries. Since its inception in 2012, IHF has provided $4.75  million in funding and support to 37 different veteran service organizations. And since starting its tournament in 2014, The Club at Ravenna has generated more than $1.8 million—nearly 38 percent—of that total.

Even with what she calls the “amazing support and generosity from the Ravenna community,” Infinite Hero Foundation Executive Director Courtney Janes admits, “We took a pretty significant hit last year. Concurrent with a decline in donations, there was a 20 percent increase in suicide in military community, and we experienced a 300 percent increase in requests for support for mental health, brain health and suicide prevention.”

Compounding the problem, she adds, numerous health providers scaled down services or closed their doors on mental health care for veterans and their families.

As events necessitated IHF to serve greater numbers of people with vital services via web-based platforms, the organization also committed itself to investing funds raised throughout 2021 in innovative brain-health and suicide-prevention programs.

Infinitely Grateful

Those programs will get special attention August 9, when the The Club at Ravenna‘s 7th Ravenna Invitational benefiting the Infinite Hero Foundation (IHF) finally takes place at the club’s stunning facility amid the red rocks of Waterton Canyon.

“We will be honoring and celebrating the strength, resilience, and leadership of our military heroes at The Ravenna Invitational as we come together as a community to provide our veterans and their families with access to vital, life-changing services,” the club’s Managing Partner Kevin Collins said in the invitation. “Thank you for standing together in support of our cherished cause and assuring a community that is too often forgotten, that Ravenna remembers.”

Individual spots run $1,250, and foursome costs $5,000. Sponsorships begin at $500. You can also support the cause by buying a ticket to the Heroes Community Breakfast before the event for $100.00.

For more information, visit https://www.infinitehero.org/

 

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