In 1988, the mother of Lou Jones, owner of surety bond brokerage Lou Jones & Associates, was successfully treated for throat cancer at City of Hope Cancer Center, located just east of Pasadena, Calif.
Lou was so impressed with the medically progessive and compassionate care his mother received, that he felt compelled to support City of Hope beyond just making a personal donation. He decided to create and underwrite a unique charity golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club that, over the past 16 years, has raised in excess of $1 million and become renowned in the Southern California insurance industry as the premier golf event. Lou Jones & Associates underwrote the entire cost of the golf tournament, raising funds by soliciting executives from a broad spectrum of companies within the insurance industry to participate and submit tax-deductible sponsorships and entry fees directly to City of Hope. Companies which have regularly participated over the years include AIG, CNA, Chubb, Zenith, The Sullivan Group, Aon, Marsh, GeneralCologne Re, American Re, Milliman USA, KPMG, Deliotte & Touche, Pricewaterhouse-Coopers and others. In 2001, Lou Jones & Associates was sold to Kemper Insurance, which declined to continue underwriting the tournament. In its place, The California Insurance Council for City of Hope has assumed a leadership role.
The tournament’s popularity stems from its being first-class all the way, from the tee prizes each golfer receives that have a retail value of well over $100, to the contests, awards and banquet. This year’s event includes a putting contest with a chance to win $10,000 and a hole-in-one prize of a 2-year lease of a new Jaguar. The highlight of the tournament for many, and one of the things that makes this event so exciting and unique, is The Derby, a pari-mutuel competition where the top 18 teams from the main tournament play a three-hole eliminiation round. However, before the teams leave the “gate”, a “betting window” is opened and everyone can make Win, Place or Show wagers on their favorite teams. Odds are calculated and winning bets are paid out during the awards dinner that follows, less a percent that goes to City of Hope.
Highlights over the years have included the ever-present grin of perenial last place finisher and late Insurance Council member Steve Olds, to the raging hillside fire last year just hundreds of yards away that threatened to cancel the tournament. Lou Jones & Associates did not let its involvement with the City of Hope end at the tournament.
On two occassions, they held bone marrow registry drives and succeeded in signing up more than 400 people, while underwriting the entire cost of the testing all 400 plus people. They also took a premium table each year at the California Insurance Council’s annual charity Spirit of Life dinner, and sponsored a City of Hope mobile cancer screening lab to visit their office and screen employees and invited guests for prostate, testicular, breast, and cervical cancers.
The 16th Annual California Insurance Council Benefit Golf Tournament for City of Hope will take place this year at Oakmont Country Club in Glendale, Calfornia on Monday, Aug. 11. Corporate and tee sponsorships, as well as individual spaces, are available.
For more information, contact Roy Forbes at City of Hope Cancer Center. 213-241-7143 or rforbes@coh.org.
Topics California
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