Annual golf tournament aims to help military veterans in need

Teams of four interested in hitting the links for a good cause are invited to register for the 14th annual Red Friday Golf Tournament to be held at Crimson Ridge Golf Course Friday, July 19.

A fundraiser, all money raised will go to helping Sault and Algoma District veterans in need.

“We remember every deployed soldier, veterans and their families in this area that need help,” said Frank Iezzi, Red Friday Golf Tournament organizer in an interview with SooToday.

‘Red Friday’ comes from Canadian Armed Forces members being encouraged to wear red as a symbol of support for deployed troops and veterans.

The event will mark the second time the annual tournament has been organized by the Algoma Veterans Association, which Iezzi co-founded in 2017 and currently leads as its president.

Previous tournaments were organized by the Military Family Support Group.

“Over the last seven years I’d say Algoma Veterans has raised about $35,000 from an annual gala and donations from various organizations. The Legion in Bruce Mines gave us money, the Army Cadets have raised money for us, there’ve been the golf tournaments,” Iezzi said.

That money in turn goes to helping veterans and their families in need of assistance.

“Over the last seven years or so we’ve given money to families for Christmas, families that couldn’t provide themselves with gifts. We donate to local charities like St. Vincent Place, the Soup Kitchen, Pauline’s Place,” Iezzi said.

Iezzi said the Algoma Veterans Association - through fundraising - pays for services veterans need such as stress-relieving massage therapy sessions and hearing tests.

The group also helps those who have served with Veterans Affairs paperwork.

While acknowledging the shortage in primary care providers, Iezzi said he would like to see veterans’ needs taken care of one day a week by a family doctor or nurse practitioner.

“We’re in need of more professionals in the northern area to help out. When you go to southern or eastern Ontario they have a lot of military bases that can help out. Our closest base is North Bay.”

The Algoma Veterans Association’s primary focus is to get its members active within the community while combatting PTSD and physical injuries suffered while on active duty.

Iezzi would like to see the Algoma Veterans Association be able to establish a getaway for modern day veterans through raising funds to buy an existing cottage or build new on a parcel of land.

“It’s going to be, basically, a place for veterans to come out and relax, grow a garden, go fishing, maybe do some yoga out there, and hopefully down the road bring psychiatrists and psychologists there,” Iezzi said. “They can come out and be themselves and talk to other veterans, because veterans know veterans. They could come out, relax, chat among themselves and have a good time.”

Being able to talk it out is important in a veteran’s recovery from PTSD, Iezzi said.

“Veterans sometimes shut their door and don’t want to go out. Algoma Veterans starts off with going to visit them and having a coffee. The next step would be sitting down somewhere quiet outside and having a coffee and then slowly reintegrating them into society. It’s baby steps all the way.”

Iezzi, a Sault native, served with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) from 1987 to 2008 as an aircraft maintenance and repair technician, including a six-month posting in Afghanistan in 2002.

“I’ve had depression, anxiety, a wide range of physical injuries from the military,” Iezzi told SooToday in a 2018 interview, though he emphasized he receives a lot of support from his wife and family.

The Algoma Veterans Association is governed by a board of veterans and civilians and has about 120 members.

Some are veterans who served at Canadian Forces Bases here in Canada while others served in Afghanistan.

“We have people from a wide variety of military backgrounds who have done different jobs in the military,” Iezzi said. 

Meanwhile, golfers wanting to register and pay to participate in the 14th annual Red Friday Golf Tournament to be held at Crimson Ridge Golf Course on Friday, July 19 can do so online.

Prizes are available.

Breakfast and lunch will be provided at Crimson Ridge, followed by a banquet at the Marconi Cultural Event Centre.

The Algoma Veterans Association is also looking for sponsors.

“I love what I do,” Iezzi said of his work with veterans.

“I love it when I am able to help a veteran and his family get what they deserve. It puts a smile on my face. I helped an older veteran in his 70s get a claim for about $70,000. He came back to me and said ‘thank you very much I’ve just paid off my house.”

Anyone needing more information about the annual Red Friday Golf Tournament or about the Algoma Veterans Association can do so through email or by phone at 705 975 4682.