The USO Northwest's Red, White & Blue Golf Classic raises $312,000 in support of Northwest Military and Their Families

Newcastle, WA (June 28th, 2018) - Patriotism was in full swing at the 23rd Annual Red, White & Blue Golf Classic hosted by USO Northwest at The Golf Club at Newcastle. Presented by the Seattle Mariners, Centerplate, Delta Air Lines and The Boeing Company, USO Northwest's Golf Classic Red, White & Blue Golf Classic raised over $312,000 - making this the most successful golf fundraiser in our history and retaining its foothold on the Pacific Northwest's largest charity golf tournament supporting our military and their families. Proceeds from the Golf Classic fund USO-NW operations throughout Washington and Oregon.
 
We are grateful for the tremendous support from more than 80 sponsors whom without their support we would not be able to provide USO programs and services to our military and their families stationed in or traveling through the Pacific Northwest. The Force Behind the Forces this year, include Course Sponsors the Seattle Mariners, Centerplate, Delta Air Lines and The Boeing Company; Golf Cart Sponsor GEICO; Double Eagle Sponsors Alaska Airlines, NECA- Puget Sound Chapter, SASCO and Tito's Handmade Vodka; our Eagle Sponsors Silver Cloud Inn & Hotels and Process Solutions Inc.
 
USO Northwest welcomed 430 golfers, sponsors and attendees, including a golf team representing all six service branches from our region. This year's tournament had everything but rain, including a flyover by the Blackjack Squadron of Arlington, an 18-gun salute (for 18 holes of golf), and even lunch prepared by Master Gunnery Sergeant Jeremiah Burns, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret), the current Armed Forces Champion of the National Capital BBQ Battle Cookoff. We would like to congratulate the Navy Team, which won a scorecard playoff over the National Guard and Coast Guard. The names of the winning Navy team will be engraved on the coveted "Chairman's Military Cup". We also would like to congratulate the Permission To Start Dreaming Team, for taking first place overall.
 
Funds raised at the Red, White & Blue Golf Classic enable the USO Northwest to serve over 830,000 military personnel and their family members annually via the four USO-NW Centers located at Sea-Tac International Airport, Portland International Airport, McChord Field and our new Camp Lewis Center (both on Joint Base Lewis McChord) and our two USO-NW Mobile Canteens.
 
At the dinner following golf, a special "Raise the Paddle" video made by AiJ Media highlighted the USO Northwest's mission of supporting America's military service members by keeping them connected to family, home and country, throughout their service to the nation. Thanks to the talents of Auctioneer extraordinaire, J ohn Curley, over $18,000 was raised to support our local military and their families.
 
This year's Golf Committee was led by Co-Chairs Ryan Van Maarth (Senior Director, Construction and Planning, Seattle Mariners) and Christopher Ellis (Amazon's Corporate Security Manager), both also serve on the USO Northwest Board of Directors. A very special thank you to John Curly for literally ripping the shirt off his back and pounding out 83 push-ups in 60 seconds to support our service members and their families!
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Media Contact: 
Gabriel Bowman
Communications Manager
USO Northwest
P: 360-951-2860
communications@usonw.org
 
About USO Northwest

For over 75 years, the USO has strengthened America's military service members by keeping them connected to family and loved ones, throughout their service to the nation.  USO Northwest (USO-NW) continues that mission today by serving more than 750,000 service members and their families annually throughout Washington and Oregon.  USO-NW operates two travel-based centers at Sea-Tac International Airport and Portland International Airport along with two installation-based centers on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the Shali USO Center and Camp Lewis USO Center providing traveling and local military service members and their dependent families with all the comforts of home.
 
Two USO-NW Mobile Canteens expand our service delivery by offering the military and their families the same best-in-class support we provide at stationary centers, but in the field during trainings, pierside for deployments and homecomings, and throughout military and civilian locations in the Pacific Northwest.  USO-NW provides support to those who need it most, including morale-boosting and family-strengthening programs, deployment and redeployment support to help servicemen and women adjusting to the duty ahead, resiliency training for families facing multiple deployments, as well as support for families coping with the loss of a family member, Families of the Fallen.
 
USO Northwest is not a government agency, but a private, nonprofit organization that relies solely on private support from individuals, organizations, foundations, corporations and fundraisers to support its activities.  USO-NW does not receive government funding.  USO Northwest is supported through the Combined Federal Campaign #15348, King County Employee Giving Program #9585, and the WA State Combined Fund Drive #0376776.
 
For more information, or to make a tax-deductible contribution to the USO-NW, visit us online at  http://usonw.org/.