Thousands of dollars go to 40 local organizations courtesy of Roman Open

Published 12:08 am Friday, August 19, 2016

With a check in her hand and a huge smile on her face, Sydney Thomason, founder and CEO of Take Heart for Hope, said she was “grateful” after receiving a check from monies raised by the Roman Open golf tournament earlier this year.

“We are very thankful and excited,” Thomason said. Take Heart for Hope is an anti-human trafficking organization.

A total of $85,000 was provided to 40 organizations from Roman Open Charities Inc. Thursday afternoon at Dalton Golf and Country Club. An additional $6,000 was previously given in scholarships to Dalton State College and Georgia Northwestern Technical College.

In May more than 240 golfers participated in the tournament at the country club. Roman Open is operated by volunteers dedicated to assisting charities in Whitfield and Murray counties.

For the past four decades, the tournament has grown to be one of the largest charitable events in the community.

Lee Smith, incoming president, said Roman Open lost one of its major sponsors.

“We still had very close to the amount of money raised this year as we did in the previous year,” Smith said.

Thomason said this was the first year her organization received a check. Take Heart for Hope was started more than a year ago. It provides education awareness and legislative advocacy on human trafficking. Thomason said they recently launched a northwest Georgia coalition against human trafficking.

“We’re now working on getting a hotline strictly for the state of Georgia ,” she said.

Ellen Andersen, director of St. Mark’s Preschool in Dalton, said the check her organization received will provide scholarships for children.

“They are special needs and have lots of family challenges,” Andersen said. “They would not be able to attend without help, so this is big.”

Karah Smith, co-founder of the Carter Hope Center, said the check that organization received will help to refurbish some of the rooms at the center.

“We run a residential treatment center for addicts and alcoholics, this will help a lot,” she said.

Roman Open President Kirk Malerbi thanked the volunteers for all their help.

Volunteer chair Ann Malerbi, Kirk’s wife, said without their help the board couldn’t have raised the money and accomplished as much as they did.