“St. Jude Week in the Desert” Raises $1,120,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
By Andrea Carter
The 5th Annual Warburton Celebrity Golf Tournament wrapped up at the Classic Club in Palm Desert today with a check presentation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for $1,120,000 following “St. Jude Week” in the desert – which included a 5k Walk/Run, Songwriter’s Night, Celebrity Jam Session, Golf Tournament, and Saturday Soiree.
At a cost of $2 million per day to open the doors at St. Jude, the funds raised will cover a little more than a half day of operations for the hospital, which is funded primarily by individual contributors and fundraisers. No family is asked to pay at St. Jude – and that includes travel costs, treatment, housing, medications and more.
The Warburton proudly welcomed Spinal Elements as its new title sponsor just a few weeks before the event. Spinal Elements donates net profits from the sale of its Hero® allograft tissue product to charities benefiting children with life-threatening medical conditions – including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Allograft is human tissue that is obtained by way of an authorized gift of a donor and/or their family. Spinal Elements chose to name its first allograft tissue product “Hero®” to honor those whose donation made the tissue donation possible.
Rain did not dampen the first of The Warburton’s week-long events, the inaugural 5k Walk/Run on Sunday, March 1 at the Classic Club. Most of the walkers and runners who had registered came out despite the wet weather and cooler temperatures – setting an inspiring tone for all the events to come.
The weekend’s festivities started with the Thursday evening “Songwriters’ Night: The Story Behind the Story” at JW Marriott Desert Springs, Thursday, March 5. A group of renowned Nashville songwriters told the stories behind their biggest hits, along with performing those hits. Songwriters included Tim Nichols, Rivers Rutherford, Bob DiPiero and Kelley Lovelace.
At the Friday Night Celebrity Jam Session, HLN morning news anchor, Robin Meade kicked things off with a set that appropriately included “Dirty Laundry” – a poke at the news business. After Robin warmed up the crowd, legend after legend took the stage including Mike Mills of R.E.M.; Little River Band lead singer, Wayne Nelson; Kim Carnes; John Elefante of Kansas; Chicago drummer, Danny Seraphine; Don Felder of the Eagles; Robbie Krieger of The Doors featuring Dave Brock on vocals; Steve Cropper, one of the original Blues Brothers; and the ultimate rocker, Alice Cooper.
Actor Patrick Warburton is co-founder and host of the The Warburton Celebrity Golf Tournament, and more than 60 other celebrities came out for the event, including Richard Kind, Danny Masterson, Michael Pena, Kurt Fuller, William Devane, Galen Gering, Scott Wolf, Joel Gretsch, Bruce Thomas, Pauley Trickey, Bill Smitrovich and Brian Thompson; and athletes like former NFL pros, Robbie Gould, Sterling Sharpe, Jim McMahon, Kordell Stewart and Eric Dickerson; as well as NHL Hall of Famer, Grant Fuhr.
The Saturday Soiree featured red carpet appearances by many of the celebrities involved with the tournament, as well as a dinner, hearing from patient families, a very successful live and silent auction and dancing to music by the band, Sixwire & Friends – with surprise performances by Starship lead singer, Mickey Thomas, Robin Meade, Mike Mills, and John Elefante.
In addition to the presenting sponsor, Spinal Elements, additional sponsors were as follows: the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation; Shakti Warriors; Precise Corporate Staging; Classic Club; Sixwire; News Channel 3; CBS Local 2; Castelli’s Ristorante; and Tito’s Handmade Vodka.
The Warburton Celebrity Golf Tournament is the second highest grossing golf tournament for St. Jude nationwide, second only to the tournament sponsored by The Eric Trump Foundation in New York.
The 6th Annual Patrick Warburton Celebrity Golf Tournament is scheduled for March 10-13, 2016. For more information, go to www.TheWarburton.com.
