By KEVIN CHIRI

Editor and Publisher

LAPLACE – Ten years ago officials with Marathon Refinery decided to begin a small golf tournament to increase their fundraising efforts each year with the St. John United Way.

After the tenth tournament was held recently at Belle Terre Country Club here in LaPlace, it’s pretty obvious the golf tournament was a good idea.

United Way Executive Director Dean Torres reported that for the tenth year in a row, the proceeds from the tournament broke the previous record for the most money ever raised.

This year the tournament is expected to bring in over $70,000, providing almost a quarter of the $320,000 the United Way expects to give away to charitable agencies during the next year.

“No doubt this is a crucial event for our agency each year, and we couldn’t have this kind of success without so many volunteers helping this to happen,” Torres said. “We have a great core of volunteers, and once again they did a fabulous job.”

The tournament is a huge undertaking, since 320 golfers played this year, having to split between morning and afternoon sessions.

Marathon Refinery continues to be the major sponsor of the tournament, and once again led the way for the United Way in making the event a huge success. Over the past ten years, the tournament has now raised over $500,000 for charity.

“Marathon has been a top supporter of United Way since we began here,” Torres said. “And thanks to their idea to start the tournament, we’ve been able to give out a lot more money to local charitable groups.”