4^th ANNUAL INSPIRATIONAL

GOLF CLASSIC | SEPTEMBER 12, 2022

To my Friends and Family at Rideau View,

It has been a long time since we hosted our last Rideau View Inspirational Golf Classic. At the completion of our 2019 event, your generous donations and strong efforts in support of suicide prevention research had amassed $234,122 in donations. Obviously, a great event, a fun day of golf, amazing speakers and a live auction go a long way to helping us raise funds. A global pandemic got in the way of those things in 2020 and 2021. However, as the Rideau View community continues to surprise me in your relentless support of this cause, despite not having any events in those two years we raised $48,810 and $32,334 respectively. A grand total of $315,266 over four years. You are truly an amazing community of people

We have a 5-year goal of $500,000. We didn’t expect a global pandemic, but we are still shooting to make our number and we need your help once again.

The global pandemic has taught us all kinds of lessons about human resilience. If you are reading this note you’ve survived a global crisis that will go down in history. Please stop and think about that, maybe give yourself a pat on the back. We aren’t finished yet, but your families will talk about you for generations.

It has also taught the general population a great deal about Mental Health. The feeling of hopelessness, the feeling of anxiety, a lack of control and a fear of the unknown. For some people, until these crazy events happened, they may have never truly understood what someone meant when they talked about a mental health crisis. One small silver lining is that those people now know what some of us are going through just because they have to go to the food and wine show.

I’m going through a major life upheaval right now; I haven’t experienced symptoms like this since my panic attacks in 2007. It has reminded me that my anxiety is not something that can be cured - only managed. But my friends and family at the golf club have always been there to help me manage, even if they don’t realize it.

The 2022 Rideau View Inspirational Golf Classic, to be held Monday September 12th, in support of Mental Health research at the Royal is going to be our best yet. I promise you. And we are going to do everything we can to achieve our goal. In fact, I am pleased to announce that our guest speaker is Alex Mateas, former offensive linemen for the Ottawa Redblacks and a member of the 2016 Grey Cup Championship team. In addition, Elizabeth Manley, three-time Canadian National Ladies’ Single Champion, Silver Olympic Champion and Silver World Champion, will once again join us for golf and dinner. We need your support, and you will find the details on how you can help in the links below. We do expect it to sell out, and sell out quickly, so please don’t waste any time if you are interested in participating in the event. If you are interested in any of the major sponsorship opportunities, please contact me directly.

Our honouree for this year is Michael Thomas, and his parents David and Judy will be actively participating in our committee to help raise awareness. Michael excelled in athletic activities, including water polo, snowboarding and yoga and was a Leader in the student body at Bishops University. During his hospital stays, Michael was recognized for his help and support of other clients who were suffering. You will learn more about Michael’s story over the summer, but we are very happy to help David and Judy bring something positive and healing from such a tragic event.

I’m looking forward to speaking with all of you over the summer and can’t wait for Monday, September 12th when we can get this tournament up and running again to help Dr. Zachary Kaminsky’s important research on Suicide Prevention for the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre.

If you are unable to participate in the tournament but wish to support the cause, you can donate directly at: http://www.theroyal.ca/inspirational

Thank you for considering,
Robert Hill
Robert.Hill.2022@icloud.com

To register for the 2022 Rideau View Inspirational Golf Classic or get more information regarding the tournament, view the following forms: