Organized by Gislaine Drolet and her daughter Marthe, the tournament served as a fundraiser in support of Marthe’s 11-year-old daughter Marylynn, a victim of the extremely rare and life-threatening illness.

All the funds raised from the tournament go back to the Cystinosis Research Foundation, according to Marthe.

Featuring 15 teams of four golfers apiece, the tournament consisted of a best ball game played over nine holes.

While teams were all competing for the top spot at the end of the day, one of the big talking points on the course was who would win the prize for the longest drive of the round.

After the tournament, the golfers headed over to the clubhouse for a delicious turkey dinner along with announcements of the prize winners.

Raffling off a wide collection of participation prizes donated by local businesses and organizations, each participant went home with a random prize. The prizes included a wide scope of products, from houseware goods to large framed posters and a pair of Ottawa Senators tickets with an autographed puck.

Four years ago, Marthe and her mother attended a Cystinosis Research Foundation conference in California, which is where Marthe noticed her mother’s desire to help ramp up significantly.

Frustrated by the lack of funding and overall awareness of the disease, they decided to take matters in their own hands with hopes of making a difference.

“That’s when she got really determined to do this and raise money to find a cure or better treatment in order for them to survive longer.”

Since Gislaine has always been an avid golfer who’s participated in many tournaments over the years, she felt like it was fitting to organize a tournament as their means contributing to the cause.

Having raised thousands of dollars every year with the tournament drawing plenty of participants at the same time, Marthe is hopeful that the initiative is having a positive impact as far as people’s awareness of the disease locally.

“A lot of them are family and friends who already kind of have an idea of what Cystinosis is or what a day with Cystinosis is like,” she said. “It’s a little bit different but it lets them know better to be able to spread the word.”

Marthe explained that around 50 Canadian families have a child with Cystinosis and that the life-expectancy for people who have it, before funding and medication for the disease became available, stood at 10 years.

Most victims undergo kidney transplants by age 12, and generally only live for 34 years.

“It’s important for us to try to raise money and try to bring awareness,” she said.

Seeing so many people come out year after year to support her in her efforts to provide her daughter with the best life she possibly can, Marthe was quite humbled when thinking about the people who have contributed to the cause.

“It’s a little overwhelming,” she said. “I’m very shy. The people that have supported and donated funds or gifts or participation prizes, it’s a little overwhelming, so much that I have hard time trying to react to it.”

“It’s touching because we’re a small community and it’s impressive how many people really care,” she added.

When it was all said and done, the team that won it all was assembled of Luc Sicard, Marc Duval, Steve Newberry and Alexis Sicard.

The event raised a total of $6,372 for the Cystinosis Research Foundation, Marthe said.

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