Christina Magee & Marc Harwood, Stone Road Mall
Leading Stone Road Mall’s Children’s Charity Golf Tournament into its 5th year.
Christina’s connection to Guelph General Hospital began when her youngest of two children. She spent quite a bit of time at Guelph General Hospital with her son when he was young due to various health issues.
It was this experience that ignited Christina’s ambition to support the Hospital to
“help make these tiny lives a bit more comfortable.”
By the time Christina started as Marketing Manager for Stone Road Mall, she had already been leading programs that supported the Hospital through her previous employer. She knew that she wanted to carry this with her into her new role.
Stone Road Mall, an organization that values giving back to the community, embraced Christina’s idea and supported her leadership to launch Stone Road Mall’s Annual Children’s Charity Golf Tournament in 2013 which raised $7,000 for Guelph General’s Paediatrics Department.
“I was quite surprised with how well the first year went, and every year it keeps getting bigger and raising more”
said Christina as she spoke of the incredible support from participants as well as sponsors and prize donors.
Over its first four years, the Tournament has raised an impressive $33,522 for the Hospital and has funded many important pieces of equipment for the Hospital’s Paediatric Department including respiratory equipment and a transport incubator.
Last year, Christina found an event planning partner in Marc Harwood. While acting in the role of Administrative Assistant, covering a 1-year leave, Marc was assigned to help with the Tournament. “I just embraced the project” Marc said. And now, even though he has moved back to his previous role in Guest Services, his dedication to the event continues on.
When Christina and Marc were asked what their goal is for this year, they both agreed
“to do better than the previous year.”
They are both confident that they will be able to do just that. “Marc brings elements and ideas to the Tournament that I had never thought of and has really helped grow the event in positive ways” said Christina.
And, they are both committed to providing a “fun and high energy” experience for all those that attend. Some fun elements include a goodie-bag at check in, to surprises at different holes such as cookies and treats, and so many prizes that more than half of all participants go home with one! But, the simplest things are not forgotten, like checking in regularly with participants to make sure their needs are met, as this also greatly contributes to the overall experience.
“We are just so grateful to all those who participate and we want to make sure they have a great time” said Marc who understands that it’s a big deal for many people to attend, many of whom take a vacation day off work to be able to participate.
While Christina and Marc organize this event in part within business hours, they also invest many hours of their own time, working into evenings and sometimes weekends to make the event the best it can possibly be.
We are so incredibly grateful for Christina and Marc’s long-standing commitment to this event and passion for giving back to their community through supporting the Hospital. We are also grateful to Stone Road Mall for supporting this important community initiative.
