CHARITY EVENTS: TRC-Moscato golf outing to raise money for Mancini family
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
ROCHESTER HILLS — Tragedy.
Hardship.
The unexpected.
These are all motivating factors behind the Rochester Hills-based Thomas Richards Charity.
Founded in 2007 by 1989 Rochester High School grad Tim Ciotti and friends, the group holds charity events in the Rochester area throughout the year to help desperate families in need.
The seventh annual Matt Moscato Charity Golf Outing is one of the big events each July hosted by TRC, drawing in hundreds of golfers, volunteers and sponsors, many of them longtime friends dating back to growing up in the Rochester area or business with strong community ties.
“We get more volunteers and sponsors each year,” said Ciotti, a local private masseuse who helped found the charity in honor of his former high school friend, Matt Moscato, a 1989 Rochester grad tragically killed in a motorcycle accident in June of 2005 in Los Angeles. “It’s become a big event every year people look forward to the golf outing.”
The outing is normally held sometime during the final two weeks of July, and followed by an additional evening fundraiser on the same day as the golf scramble. This year’s event will take place on July 25 at Sylvan Glen Golf Course in Troy, with the evening affair at Buffalo Wild Wings in Rochester Hills, adjacent to Rochester High.
This is the third year that the golf tournament will be held at Sylvan Glen (lunch at 11 a.m. at Camp Ticonderoga on the Sylvan Glen campus and shotgun start at 1 p.m.), while the evening fundraiser will take place from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. at BWW-Rochester Hills, with portions of the proceeds going to the Thomas Richards Charity, the non-profit organization which coordinates several events each year. This is the first time since 2010 that BWW-Rochester Hills has hosted the event, which drew more than 500 people that year.
The event has also been held at Twin Lakes Golf Course, CJ Mahoney’s and Main Street Billiards in recent years.
The golf outing, which first took place in 2008, has ranged from 70 to 155 players each year and is expecting between 100-125 this year.
“Each year we try to find one family that needs assistance with something, raising money for an illness. One year we helped build a handicap ramp at a house,” said Ciotti. “We try to coordinate it every year with a (high school reunion) to help encourage people to come home for the weekend. This year we are holding it in (conjunction) with the class of 1989 25th reunion.”
The reunion will take place July 26 at Red Ox in Rochester hills.
This year’s fundraiser’s recipient will be 14-year-old Lexi Mancini, daughter of 1989 Rochester grad Allyson Mancini (Blaker). When Lexi Mancini was one year old she was diagnosed with Turner Syndrome, a chromosomal disorder that affects many parts of the body. She produces no hormones of any kind.
Lexi Mancini has been receiving growth hormone injections since she was two years old, and began taking estrogen last year. She will have to continue to take hormones (estrogen and progesterone) the rest of her life. (Please read detailed story here at http://trcares.com/2014-matt-moscato-charity-golf/ .)
To make matters worse, she is also afflicted with Common Variable Immune Deficiency (CVID), a life threatening and incurable disorder.
The costs are through the roof to help pay for ongoing medical expenses, as the family has routinely changed and challenged insurance companies throughout the years, as many don’t want to cover the growing costs because it is a catastrophic disease. The costs are $250,000 per year and the family averages $28,000 in co-pays each year.
“This is what it is all about. Anything we can raise to help families like this,” said Ciotti.
Individuals wishing to participate in the golf outing or volunteer, attend the fundraiser Friday evening at BWW-Rochester Hills, or make a donation, log onto www.trcares.com, or contact Tim Ciotti at (310) 704-0806 or tciotti@me.com.
To submit information to www.northoaklandsports.com, e-mail dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com. To advertise, e-mail advertising@northoaklandsports.com
Category: BWW Athlete of the Week, Editor's Column, Featured Articles, Game Results / Features, Golf, Golf Course Reviews, High School, High School (M-Z), Prep Wraps, Publishers Viewpoint, Rochester, Sponsors, Sports Fundraisers, Sports Shorts, State Rankings, Stats / Area Leaders, Top Stories, Uncategorized
