Vic Open helps raise more than $42,000 for charity

THE 2018 Oates Vic Open has helped raise $42,109 for its official tournament charity partner Challenge – supporting kids with cancer.

The final figure was generated via the Celebrity Chef Charity Dinner for Challenge and throughout tournament week at 13th Beach Golf Links.

A handful of Australia’s top chefs joined forces on the Friday night of the Oates Vic Open to produce a first-class dining experience in the Presidents Room at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong.

Hosted by Tom Gleisner from Channel 10’s Have You Been Paying Attention?, 250 guests at the 2018 Celebrity Chef Dinner were treated to a night of great food, drinks, entertainment and live music from acoustic guitarist/vocalist Andre T.

Challenge chief executive officer Dave Rogers said Challenge was thrilled to be one of the biggest benefactors from the growth of the Oates Vic Open.

“I think that amount of money speaks volumes for how the event is tracking moving forward,” Mr Rogers said.

“The money goes directly back into the programs and services, there’s nothing that goes into wages or administration. It goes straight into services that help the kids.”

“The money raised on the night will help make it possible for Challenge to assist those in need, particularly in the local area.

“We have a couple of activities down in the Geelong region, like our surf camp that’s held at Lorne and we have the house down in Torquay which we do different events at.

“There will be a clear path with the money going down that way and we’ll look at cleaning houses and mowing lawns for families down in the Bellarine Peninsula area too.”

For more information or to make a donation to Challenge, head to challenge.org.au.