It doesn’t matter whether it’s a traumatic incident involving one person or dozens, the pain of responding to those incidents can have resounding effects.

That was the message from River Valley Resilience Retreat (RVRR) co-founder Michelle McKeaveney, as the retreat prepared for its second annual September golf scramble on Saturday.

The retreat is open to first responders and front-line care staff who need a safe, secluded, and serene location to rest, relax, and recover from traumatic events in their work lives. McKeaveney said a place like this is more important than ever.

“It doesn’t matter the size or the varied response, we should take each one of these situations seriously, and provide immediate comfort and respite so we can prevent mental health injuries from worsening and mitigate some of those factors,” McKeaveney said during a phone interview. “That’s what we’re trying to do and that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”

Golfers will tee off at Cooke Municipal Golf Course at 2 p.m. on Saturday to play 18 holes and win some prizes. However, the primary goal will be to raise money to pay for various operational and capital costs for their new site south of Prince Albert, which opened near the end of June.

The retreat also hopes to build new cabins so they can serve even more people.

“We have a mortgage. We have bills. We have ongoing groceries as people stop by constantly—and we encourage that—so we’re always going to have ongoing needs,” McKeaveney explained. “But right now, we realized that we need cabins sooner than later. That’s really what we need to dial some of these funds into from the golf (tournament), to figure out how we get our lodging sorted.”

McKeaveney said registration was a bit slow at the start, but that’s changed as the fundraiser date gets closer. She’s confident attendees will have a good time, and provide the support the retreat needs to help as many people as possible.

“We’re excited,” she said. “The people who are looking forward to coming and supporting us are planning some really awesome outfits, and really jumping up to the challenge at our second annual golf tournament.”

The event includes dinner and a silent auction. Guests are invited to dress up or dress down. Teams can register for Saturday’s scramble by emailing playgolf@rvrrsk.ca, or calling 1-833-378-7775. The cost is $1,000 for a group of four, or $250 for one individual.