Join your local heroes and be a hero to the survivors of fallen firefighters at a National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Golf Tournament
Caren Stewart is a volunteer firefighter and EMT in Moulton Alabama. Gregory Bridges is a battalion chief with Raleigh (NC) Fire Department. They both think of the fire service as extended family. While neither would consider themselves a hero, to the families of fallen firefighters, they are. Both Stewart and Bridges also understand the grief a commu-
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nity and the fire service family shares when a firefighter dies in the line of duty. Both have also experienced the support the survivors of the fallen receive through the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. In 2007, Stewart attended the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend to honor the families of two Moulton firefighters who were killed in a building collapse the previous year. Bridges attended the Memorial Weekend in 2009 as a fire service volunteer and was moved by the outpouring of support for all the survivors. Both have become local volunteer coordinators for the NFFF Golf Tournaments. Since 2004, the tournaments have raised more than $3 million to help the NFFF provide services for surviving family members, including scholarships, grief counseling, and camps for children dealing with the loss of a parent.
Tournament Site
Coordinator
6/20 Deer Run Golf Course Moulton AL
Caren Stewart
ffrn126@bellsouth.net
6/22 Bentwinds Country Club Fuquay-Varina NC
Greg Bridges
gregory.bridges@raleighnc.gov
Dale Hart
dhart514@att.net
October Oak Point Golf Course John’s Island, SC
Gavin Gilcrease
g.gilcrease@stjfd.org
October Firewheel Golf Course Garland TX
Matt McCormick
matt.mccormick@wylietexas.gov
Rick Darby
radarby@comcast.net
Sean Hunt
fyrman053@comcast.net
8/8 Old Hickory Golf Club St. Peters MO
10/26 Deercreek Country Club Deerfield Beach FL 11/8 Lely Resort Naples FL 20
Stewart coordinates the Play it Forward Golf Tournament at Deer Run Golf Course in Moulton, AL. “We decided on the name PLAY IT FORWARD because after their deaths, we received such an outpouring of love that we can never repay. We can however pay it forward,” she explained. Bridges organizes the Raleigh Area NFFF Golf Tournament at Bentwinds Country Club in Fuquay-Varina, NC. He is proud that the tournaments are a great way to have fun while raising money and awareness for a meaningful organization. For more information or to register for these and other tournaments in the region, go to http://www.firehero.org/ events/golf-outings/tournaments-state/ For information about the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, visit www.firehero.org.
Southern Golf Central • Volume 16, Issue 1