40TH Annual Tower Classic Golf Tournament Raises $61,000 to Help Sick Children at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center

The annual golf tournament, held on June 2 and hosted by the TowerCares Foundation, raised the highest amount in the event’s 40-year history, with all proceeds going to help critically ill children and their families receiving care at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, Baltimore’s local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital.

The 2023 Tower Classic Golf Tournament, hosted by the TowerCares Foundation, raised $61,000—the highest amount in the event’s 40-year history—to help critically ill children receiving care at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center (JHCC), Baltimore’s local Children’s Miracle Network hospital. Over 90 golfers participated in the tournament, held June 2 at Renditions Golf Course in Davidsonville, MD. Seven-year-old Children’s Miracle Network Ambassador Emme, shown here along with her mom Laura, were special guests at the tournament. The check was presented to Cynthia Palacz (far left), Director of Corporate Engagement and Events for JHCC by [left-right] TowerCares Board members Allen Brisentine III, Chairman; Al Smith, Secretary; Rick Stafford, President; and Tom Poe, Treasurer.

For 40 years, the Tower Classic golf tournament has raised money to help kids like Emme. Emme was born healthy, but shortly after her first birthday, while learning to walk, her parents noticed that she never took more than a few steps at a time. Eventually, she stopped trying to walk entirely and resorted to scooting. She was also experiencing tremors in her hands and legs, and was sent for a MRI with a pediatric neurologist at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center (JHCC) in Baltimore, MD. The MRI revealed a large brain tumor, and she underwent emergency surgery that same day.

A week after the surgery, Emme spiked a fever and was back at JHCC, where she was admitted with meningitis. She was so sick she wasn’t allowed to leave her hospital room, although she did eventually respond to antibiotics. Once home, she had to learn how to perform basic functions again—to sit up, move, talk, and walk.

Today, thanks in large part to the extraordinary care received at JHCC, she is a happy, strong-willed seven–year-old, and a Children’s Miracle Network Child Ambassador.

Proceeds from the annual Tower Classic Golf Tournament, hosted by the TowerCares Foundation and sponsored by Tower Federal Credit Union, provide critical resources for children like Emme receiving critical care at JHCC. Over 90 golfers participated in this year’s tournament, held June 2 at Renditions Golf Club in Davidsonville, MD.

The event raised $61,000 for the Children’s Center—the highest amount raised in the event’s 40-year history. Emme, along with her mother Laura, were special guests at the tournament.

“This tournament was our most successful one yet,” said Rick Stafford, President of the TowerCares Foundation, and one of the players at the tournament. “As always, all of our golfers and volunteers were in the spirit of giving and supporting the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, our local Children’s Miracle Network hospital. An important part of the TowerCares mission is to help children in need and we are honored to provide this donation in recognition of the critical work they do every day to assist critically ill children and their families.”

Stafford added, “The TowerCares Board would like to thank all of the players, donors, sponsors, and volunteers who contributed to the event’s success; tournament sponsor TRUStage (formerly CUNA Mutual) for providing a $6,000 donation; and CO-OP Financial Services for again coming through with a $10,000 match through Miracle Match.” The CO-OP Miracle Match Program is a philanthropic matching program that encourages credit unions to create and participate in local Children’s Miracle Network fundraisers.

“We are so grateful for Tower Federal Credit Union and the TowerCares Foundation,” said Cynthia Palacz, Director of Corporate Engagement and Events for JHCC. “Forty years of helping save the lives of Maryland’s children is truly an amazing example of

community partnership. On behalf of our patients and families, thank you for helping sick and injured kids receiving care at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.”