In the past decade, the private club in Edgartown, Mass., has quietly made donations of $1.3 million to a dozen service and community groups.
Vineyard Golf Club may be a private institution, but its charitable efforts reach the public.
Through its VGC Foundation, the Edgartown, Mass., club has donated $1.3 million over the course of ten years to a dozen service and community groups. Now, they’re letting everyone know, the Martha’s Vineyard Times reports.
“This year we’re trying to cast a wider net to reach the broader community,” General Manager Gerry Daly said. “We’ve put everything online, including the application and deadline process. Funds will only be used to help charities on the island.”
Course management shifted to the membership three years ago while a President and Board of Directors oversee operations. The club has 450 members, including 150 Island residents.
A scholarship program that benefits Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School seniors through the VGC/Ray Ellis scholarship fund has been established as well. Ellis is a landscape artist who donated work for auction to underwrite the scholarships.
The Island nonprofit community numbers more than 150 entities. Organizations that received grants in 2011 included The Drum Workshop, Friends of Edgartown Council on Aging, Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard, Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard, Martha’s Vineyard Boys & Girls Club, Martha’s Vineyard Cancer Support Group, Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust, The Red Stocking Fund, The Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, The Vineyard Nursing Association, The YMCA, and the Martha’s Vineyard Arena.
“We don’t have pet projects,” Daly said. “If you look at the giving we’ve done to date, we’ve worked with probably 60 of the 160 or so non-profit organizations [on the island]. So the idea of casting a wider net is to make sure everyone is aware that the foundation is here.”
The local high school uses the club facility and Vineyard hosts fundraiser tournaments for the Vineyard Nursing Association (VNA), the Edgartown Police Department and the Rotary Club.
“The Vineyard Golf Club has been a wonderful relationship for us,” Robert Tonti, Chief Executive Officer of the VNA, said. “They provided the facility for our golf tournament literally since they opened and recently added us to their foundation so we’re able to get a donation. We look to raise $300,000 to $400,000 a year in total fundraising and their involvement represents a substantial gift.”
The club also describes itself as the most environmentally sensitive course in the country, with no pesticides or synthetic chemical treatments used to maintain the 18-hole course (“Charting the Right Course“).
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