News Photo by Darby Hinkley Alpena Childcare and Development Center staff members gather for a photo at the center on Thursday. Pictured, front row, from left, are Emily Curley, Rachel Canavan, Hope Moore, and ACDC Director Kelli Witter. Back row, from left, are Paige Timmreck, Alice Macfalda, Sammy Burns, and Marisa Worm. ACDC is hosting a golf scramble fundraiser on June 14.

ALPENA — Alpena Childcare and Development Center is seeking teams to participate in the Putting for Preschoolers Golf Scramble on Saturday, June 14 at River’s Edge Golf Club, 6373 Werth Road.

Gather your own team of four and enjoy a fun day of golfing for $100 per player. The fee includes cart use, 18 holes of golf, fun events along the way, and lunch at the turn. Prizes will be awarded to winners, and there will be raffle items and a 50-50 drawing.

“We’re hoping that people of all ages can come out and just have some fun,” said Shannon Woodruff, ACDC board member. “We have game holes. We have a putting contest. Somebody just donated a Scotty Cameron putter for us to raffle off so we have a lot of exciting things that are going to make for a fun day and also get us closer to that $200,000 goal which would match that Besser Foundation donation for our two more preschool classrooms.”

Sponsorships are also available for $50 to $750.

Proceeds from the event will go toward ACDC’s capital campaign. The center is fundraising for a matching grant to add preschool classrooms to accommodate 50 more students.

“All of the money we raise goes toward the capital campaign, but for each fundraiser, we would love to see at least $10,000 raised, if not more,” Woodruff said.

She added that for the smaller fundraisers, anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 is great, and then for their annual gala in November, they try to raise between $30,000 and $40,000.

“Any and all donations are greatly appreciated, so if people are willing to play in the event, sponsor the event, or just do a monetary donation, we are very grateful,” Woodruff said.

So far, the center has raised $144,309.80 in their capital campaign, she said.

“We are looking for people with teams of four right now,” Woodruff said. “We have 30 team spots available and 15 of them are full, so we’re still looking to fill about half of our teams. I do have some people that are signing up in pairs, so if you want to sign up with just another person, we can pair you with another couple.”

She said registration starts at 9 a.m., then a shotgun start at 10 a.m. and golfing should wrap up by 4:30 p.m., followed by prizes awarded to the top three teams, as well as raffle results and 50-50 prizes.

“It’s a scramble, which is really fun because you have four people on your team,” Woodruff said. “You pick one ball after each hit and if you don’t have a great drive, but your other teammates do, then maybe you just skip the driving part of the day. You chip and putt and maybe win some prizes.”

Beverage cart sponsors are L&S Concrete and Garth on the Go.

“We’ll have two drink carts going around, so you’ll have lots of liquid courage throughout the day and, like I said, we’ll have some food provided by the course,” Woodruff said. “It’ll just be a nice sunny day raising money for preschoolers.”

She said the community has been very supportive throughout the capital campaign.

“We have had really good support so far through this golf scramble, so if we can max out our teams at 30 and we can get as many sponsors as possible, we’ll just be smiling from ear to ear,” Woodruff said.

She encourages everyone to come out and support ACDC.

“Everybody knows a 4-year-old that’s learning that’s going to school in a couple years, so we want to make sure that they have the best opportunity to get a good start,” Woodruff added. “A fun day out with your friends is not a bad way to raise some money. By building two more preschool classrooms, we’re giving 50 more kids an opportunity to have a place to go get a good early education and it’s nice for the parents because it’s in town.”

ACDC has been doing fundraisers throughout this year, including a successful 3 on 3 basketball tournament March 29 at the Boys and Girls Club of Alpena.

“Community support has been great,” Woodruff said. “Our basketball tournament ended up raising $7,918.65. We had over 30 teams that were registered for our basketball tournament, which was incredible. Our sponsors were awesome. We had so many people that sponsored for the courts and then just the community support. Everybody came out and was excited to participate in our 50-50 raffle and we had pizza that was donated. We had a bake sale so we’re just grateful that everybody is helping us get closer to our goal because it’ll provide something that our community needs.”

Upcoming fundraisers in the works include a pickleball tournament during the Michigan Brown Trout Festival in July, as well as ACDC’s annual gala on Nov. 7 at The Depot on Fletcher Street in Alpena. Gala tickets will go on sale toward the end of the summer, Woodruff said.

“It’s a really nice event,” Woodruff said of the gala. “People can get dressed up and we’ll have baskets that you can do a silent auction for and then we’ll have a live auction where they usually have some really good prizes.”

Alpena Childcare and Development Center is located at 511 Long Rapids Plaza, Alpena. The center is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, visit Putting for Preschoolers or Alpena Childcare and Development Center on Facebook. Call the center at 989-354-3213.