HERSHEY, Pa. — Some of the biggest names in sports were competing on the golf course this week in support of cancer research.
Day one of the ninth annual Midd Penn Bank Celebrity Golf Classic took place on Wednesday at Hershey Country Club. The event brought together some 40 current and former athletes for the two-day event which includes a charity shoot-out and golf tournament. Event organizers are optimistic they will hit their fundraising goal of $200,000.
"It warms my heart to see all those guys because they're coming from all over the country," said Rory Ritrievi, CEO for Mid Penn Bank. "These are busy people that come here to Hershey, Pennsylvania [to] help us raise money. It's really touching."
Notable attendees of the charity event included Philadelphia Eagles legend Ron Jaworski, current NFL player Brandon Graham, NHL hall of famer Grant Fuhr, Pittsburgh Steelers great Merril Hoge and many more.
"You're looking around and just seeing guys like Keith Byars, Brandon Graham, Grant Fuhr, you know, one of the greatest hockey players of all time," said Jaworski. "It's a real dichotomy of all sports, and people that understand what the goal is."
Some participating celebrity athletes have been involved since the beginning while others were taking part in the event for the first time. However, they all in some way, shape, or form have seen the detrimental impact cancer has and have garnered a passion for joining the supportive push in cancer research.
"When I was diagnosed with cancer, I actually did some research and I realized that there was no treatment had I been diagnosed 10 years earlier," said Hoge. "It was people that did fundraising that created a cure and a treatment for me. What is being done today is going to be turned into research and treatment and hopefully one day we'll have a cure."
Each of them doing their part to make an impact.
"[I am] just trying to make sure we make a difference little by little," said Graham. "[I am] just happy to be a part of it and just want to make sure that people know that they're not alone and we are here to support."
A fun day of golf swings by some big-time athletes to make a huge difference.
"We're having a good old time, we're playing golf, we're drinking beer, we're having a good meal," said Jaworski. "But at the end of the day, we all realize why we're here to raise money."
The money raised at this year's event will be donated to both the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition and The Basser Center for BRCA at Penn Medicine.