West Shore golf tournament raising money for local charities and Ukraine

With the war in Ukraine still raging on, a group from the West Shore has vowed to continue to help – this time with a little help from a charity golf event at the Bear Mountain Golf Club in Langford.

“It’s the West Shore Charity Golf Tournament,” said Stew Young, the former Langford mayor.

Formerly known as the Mayor’s Charity Golf Tournament, Young is still very much involved, raising money for the community.

“It’s going to be the food banks, it’s going to be the sports teams,” said Young.

Half of the proceeds are earmarked for 19 charities on the West Shore. The remaining will go directly to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

“The need is horrifically more now than it has ever been before,” said team leader Bob Beckett.

Beckett has led two humanitarian missions to Ukraine since the war began. Feeding more than 80,000 displaced people, bringing much needed rescue equipment into the country and resupplying overwhelmed hospitals with medical supplies.

This fall, he and his team will be going back "with a focus on medical equipment,” said Beckett.

Partners in Ukraine are asking for more lifesaving supplies as injuries on both the soldier and civilian side continue to amass.

“Ukrainians have seen a lot of trauma, whether it’s direct trauma or vicarious trauma,” said Evelyn Ofsoske, co-founder and CEO of WUNDERfund.

The group has partnered with that non-profit, which has introduced a free mental health counselling service in the country.

“In the last six months or so we’ve been able to assist more than 500 people,” said Ofsoske.

WUNDERfund hopes to expand its resources in Ukraine as the war drags on and mental health becomes an ongoing concern.

“I’m really looking forward to heading to Ukraine with Bob,” said Bruce Brown, a recent addition to the team.

Brown is a retired West Shore RCMP member and will be part of this fall's trip.

“My primary role will be to engage communities,” said Brown. “Colwood and Langford specifically.”

The group first travelled to Ukraine in June 2022 with a goal of creating a sister-city agreement between four communities in the west of that country and the City of Langford. That never materialized.

Now both Langford and Colwood councils are exploring signing those agreements.

“I anticipate that we should find out fairly soon if those sister city agreements are going to take place,” said Brown.

As the war rages on in Ukraine, costing thousands of lives and displacing people across the country, communities in the capital region are coming together, building partnerships to help those half a world away.