The McGMO golf tournament was, like most other things, forced to alter course the last two summers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two years ago, the event was canceled, though over $23,000 was raised in an online campaign.
Last summer, with some safety precautions in place, the tournament returned and raised over $40,000 to provide comfort items for cancer patients. The McGMO was back again this summer and raised $43,000 on July 29.
“It seems crazy that we’ve been doing this for almost 25 years,” Mike Grover, one of the organizers of the tournament, said. This was the 24th installment of the McGMO.
The tournament got its start when its three founding members decided to honor their fathers, all of whom had died of cancer within six months of each other. The McGMO was originally named for Tim McGregor, Mike Grover, and John Monroe. Later, Kim O’Keefe was diagnosed with cancer and became the “O”. Grover said O’Keefe knew what was needed for comfort items for cancer patients because he had personal experience dealing with it.
“Our mission is comfort items,” Grover said. “The biggest thing is trying to provide funding for things that are not part of the budget and can help people out who are suffering through the torment of cancer.”
Grover said Advocate Aurora, who the McGMO has partnered with since the beginning, come to the group with what their needs are and the group decides what qualifies as “comfort items”. Grover said that cloud include surgical items and other tools that can help doctors reduce recovery time for patients. One specific example this year is an exercise bike that will be purchased for a local Delavan facility.
“It has worked out well,” Grover said of the partnership with Advocate Aurora.
It’s a wonderful group of people that help support, sponsor, and set this event up,” Dr. Ted O’Reilly, Chief Medical Officer for Advocate Aurora, Walworth County, said.
“It is really neat to see when you look around at the community involvement and the support of the people who come out to participate in an event that really supports our cancer services,” O’Reilly added. “It goes right back to the community and that is amazing.”
O’Reilly said partnering with the McGMO has allowed Advocate Aurora to add to the services it offers its cancer patients so that they can continue to treat them right here in the community with as up-to-date and advanced treatment as possible.
For more of the story, please see the print edition of the Delavan Enterprise.
