A Disease, a Horse, and a Golf Course

Keller Williams Realty Group is hosting its ninth annual golf outing to benefit Alex’s Lemonade stand on September 25 at .

Like many great partnerships, this one began with a horse.

The story goes like this: Keller Williams broker Terese Brittingham was a part-owner of Afleet Alex; the famous thoroughbred who, in 2005, fell one win shy of claiming racing’s Triple Crown. While the horse was still climbing the ranks, Brittingham and her cohort heard the story of Alex Scott—the courageous young girl who lost a battle to pediatric cancer in 2004, but not before starting Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Touched by her generosity, and perhaps still reeling from news that Afleet Alex’s trainer had contracted terminal colon cancer, the group decided to help. They began donating a percentage of the horse’s winnings and merchandise sales to the charity, and using the media attention the rising colt received to promote its work.

Though the horse retired shortly thereafter, nine years later, and on a smaller scale, his owner's commitment to fighting cancer continues.

This year’s golf event kicks off with a buffet lunch at 10 a.m., begins in earnest with a shotgun start to the tournament at 11:45 a.m., and closes, after a cocktail hour and gala, at 10 p.m. (See the full list of events, and ways to get involved, here.)The organizers have set ambitious fundraising goals, Keller Williams agent Joymarie Chupein said.

“The best we ever did was $30 or $40 thousand,” she told Patch. “This year we’re trying to crush that goal.”

Though the tournament is still almost three weeks away, they’re off to a fine start.  Chupein said her group has already lined up 100 golfers, as many as 60 diners, numerous sponsors, and celebrity guests like former Philadelphia Eagles Tommy McDonald and Sean Landeta and chef Maria Liberati.

And there’s one sponsor she’s particularly excited about: her nine-year-old son.

“He’s raised $200 so far,” she said, “And he’ll be at First Friday [in Phoenixville on September 7] raising more.”