Inclusion and an anniversary were the main messages as Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Saskatchewan hosted their fifth golf tournament fundraiser at Marks Nine Golf & Country Club on Saturday.
SCI Saskatchewan returned to the golf course for the fourth time to have some fun and raise awareness. Bill Lehne, president of Spinal Cord Saskatchewan, is originally from the Prince Albert area, and said the tournament was special for him.
“The whole concept is community inclusion,” Lehne explained. “This is our fifth annual. We’ve raised approximately $110,000 up until this point (and) we’re shooting for $25,000 today. I think we’re going to maybe hit that and exceed that.”
The tournament saw just over 15 teams entered to play in a team best ball scramble on the course located north of Prince Albert. He said that the goal was 18 but they fell just short.
“It’s going to be bigger and better every year,” he said. “We’re showing growth and it really shows the support and that collaboration from the community and everybody has a friend, fami-ly, foe, somebody that has a form of an impairment.”
Delynne Bortis, the acting executive director of SCI, echoed Lehne thoughts and said the tour-nament was about both fundraising and awareness.
“We’re not just looking at doing the fundraising part, but we’re bringing awareness.,” Bortis said.
Another important aspect according to Bortis was the inclusive environment.
“We have got people of all abilities out here. We’ve got people with physical disabilities. We’ve got people with invisible disabilities. We’ve got people that are called temporarily able bodied because as we know, there’s always a chance for disability to happen at any point in anybody’s life,” Bortis said.
Lehne said the tournament is vital to SCI’s work.He added that with a new Canada Disability Act in the works to provide more infrastructure and resources there is hope for more quality of life and community inclusion.
“As you see here today, we got a motorhome here that’s completely converted wheelchair accessible, bigger bathrooms, lifts going in hand controls in it,” Lehne explained.
There was also a trackchair with adaptability features so people can experience the outdoors. Lehne said the chair help create awareness.
“For people to experience that quality of life, it requires money,” Lehne said.
“All this adaptive equipment is very expensive. You know that trackchair, as an example, is approximately $30,000 for somebody to go outside and do the outdoors, go hunting, go fishing, go on the trails, that sort of thing. You’re not normally able to do that unless you have those kind of supports.”
Golf Saskatchewan has traditionally donated one solo-rider but this year they donated two. One was ridden by SCI Vice President Blair Morgan, a world champion snow-cross and X Games champion, as well as Rob Roarke.
“What it’s showing is growth, and that’s the whole intent as we keep growing and growing and growing,” Lehne said.
The solo-rider allows people with physical disabilities to golf without leaving the cart.
Morgan also brought a Can Am Maverick with hand controls. Lehne said it takes resources to have community inclusion and quality of life.
“One of the things that we’re doing differently this year is we’re going to target all the resources
that we raised today for those people that we serve for adaptive equipment to help them experience that quality of life and have that community inclusion,” Lehne said.
Lehne is in his 41st year with a spinal cord injury. He said he has a few years in the trenches both as a person with an injury and as an advocate.
He was injured in 1983. He began to use the SCI system and has now been on the board for 30 years. He has served the last six years as president.
Lehne said the rehabilitation process used by many people with spinal cord injuries is too restrictive. One of SCI’s goals is to help patients customize an approach to rehab that works best for them.
Lehne said another goal was to enhance lifestyles for people.
“There’s many different forms here today, many different chairs, many different adapted devices, and they’re all very expensive. Those resources that we’re developing today are really to help enhance the lifestyle for people,” Lehne said.
Lehne explained that the recovery process after a spinal injury requires a whole spectrum of service delivery.
“People get injured and then there’s rehab and then there’s education and then there’s employability, and then there’s experiencing life and that requires a full spectrum of service delivery to complement that (and) to really experience that full quality of life,” Lehne said.
Lehne said that the injured person is not the only one affected but family and friends are also affected and that is why SCI has a peer support program.
“It’s critical that we get in touch with these people at the moment of injury and then we can help them post injury and it’s a journey. It’s not just a very isolated silo type of effect. It requires a full spectrum delivery to have that wrap-around service delivery and that’s and that’s what we’re trying to establish for our folks that we serve,” Lehne said.
Spinal Cord Injury Saskatchewan serves more than 1,100 clients across the province who have suffered a spinal injury or have other physical disabilities. The organization has headquarters in Saskatoon, with a regional office in Regina.
SCI Saskatchewan is also celebrating its 60th Anniversary in 2024, which Bortis said was an important milestone for the organization.
“And 60 years is a huge thing for a nonprofit organization to be able to still be able to host events like this and still be able to offer our services that are so important to inclusion.
Spinal Cord Injury Saskatchewan rebranded from the Saskatchewan Paraplegic Association when the national chapter changed its name, but the organization’s history goes back to the 1940s.
The organization originally started serving Second World War veterans who returned as amputees, since they had no service provider when they came home.
There were also over a dozen volunteers in SCI 60th Anniversary shirts assisting as hole judges and around the course.
Lehne also credited Cam Cartier and the entire staff at Mark’s Nine for being great hosts for the event.
Lehne and Cartier have been friends since they were 10-years-old. They played sports together before Lehne’s injury and have remained lifelong friends.
“I played hockey with Cam, played ball with Cam, and so Cam offered here a number of years ago to host this event,” Lehne said. “That’s very important to me, right. That’s heart-wrenching. He’s really supported (the tournament) and he’s making this a success.”
Corporate sponsorship including hole sponsorship for Hole in Ones, longest drives and closest to the pin. The golf tournament had both corporate and local businesses as sponsors. Exact funds raised for the tournament were not known for deadline.
“This has been a real group effort and a huge team effort between the board and the staff and our past participants, our sponsors, and we’re so excited to have everybody involved,” Bortis said.
