Derby Wings Management Raises $140,000 for Down Syndrome Organization
Buffalo Wild Wings hosts an EWRF event the week before the golf tournament and invites people with Down syndrome to come to the restaurant and help raise awareness. Individuals with Down syndrome that become part of the B-Dubs crew for the day range from 4 years old to 25 years old.
In the summer of 2016, Derby Wings Management hosted the fourth annual golf scramble benefiting Angels in Disguise, a Down syndrome charity based in Louisville, Kentucky.
BWW® franchisee Eric Titus has held a golf scramble every year for nearly a decade but stopped when he began getting frustrated at the seemingly low funds the events were bringing in.
“At the end of the day, we would raise $10,000, which is great, but for the effort, I didn’t feel like we were getting the impact we wanted. I kind of stepped aside, and we took a few years off,” he said.
When his contact at the golf course approached him years later asking to form a partnership for a new charity his family had created, Titus was ready to give it another shot.
“They would always do a lot of stuff for Down syndrome awareness, but they finally decided to create their own charity here locally,” said Titus. “Because of the passion of the charity and the fundraising that they helped with, it was a totally different experience with Angels in Disguise.”
The duo moved the event to a different golf course, and this year roughly 220 people on 55 teams came out to show their support for the cause.
“It was a traditional golf scramble, but because of the passion of the charity, we raised a little over $140,000,” said Titus. That figure has been growing larger and larger each year.
To help raise funds, the golf scramble was held in conjunction with the Giddy Up Gala, a dinner event that took place the night before the golf tournament at Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby.
“This is sort of an appreciation night for people who may not necessarily be golfers,” said Titus.
The Giddy Up Gala, held the night before the golf scramble, takes place at Churchill Downs and is an opportunity for those who don’t golf to get involved with Angels in Disguise.
The event includes a nice dinner, speakers who come to educate attendees on Down syndrome and various silent and live auctions. The fundraiser features hundreds of items to be auctioned off that range anywhere from a trip to Disney to a tour of a local winery or distillery.
Titus notes that Buffalo Wild Wings® donates auction items ranging from NASCAR tickets and paraphernalia to a Cincinnati Bengals game with access to the Miller Lite party deck.
While B-Dubs® isn’t heavily involved in the Giddy Up Gala, they are the primary sponsor for the golf scramble.
“We’re the ones who are actually out soliciting sponsorships and teams,” said Titus. “The day of the actual event, we’re really the ones who are executing it. I have a lot of my team members out there doing polls and registration and that kind of stuff.”
Buffalo Wild Wings also hosts an Eat Wing Raise Funds event the week before the golf tournament and invites people with Down syndrome to come to the restaurant and help raise awareness.
“We treat them like employees,” said Titus. “They come in, we give them uniforms, we schedule them for shift for a couple of hours, and as their families come in, they help serve them and greet them or whatever the case.”
This year’s golf scramble for Angels in Disguise welcomed 220 people on 55 teams.
Individuals with Down syndrome that become part of the B-Dubs crew for the day range from 4 years old to 25 years old.
“Our big goal throughout this whole thing is not only raising money, but it’s mainly trying to break down barriers and stereotypes,” said Titus. “It is our intention that everyone involved with the event has the chance to interact with these angels because our whole role is to show that they are not strange human beings; they are some of the most wonderful people on the planet.”