Taking a swing at cystic fibrosis, the “Spread Love” charity golf tournament is back in Montreal for its fourth year.
Started by Montrealers Marco Gentile and Marco Colasurdo, the event supports the fight against cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that affects lungs, the pancreas and other organs.
“As long as Mother Nature cooperates, I think it’s one of the best golf tournaments in Montreal,” said Gentile.
“If there’s one event you can donate to this year, we hope it’s this one.”
Cystic fibrosis is a cause that became very important to Gentile in 2020.
“When my daughter, Brooklyn, who today is five years old, was born and diagnosed with cystic fibrosis
“We knew then that we wanted to give back to the community in a way. And Marco (Colasurdo) being one of my best friends, always very passionate about golf, he’s always wanted to host a golf tournament. We finally had a very important cause and so the tournament was born.”
Over the past three years, the organizers of the Spread Love charity golf tournament donated over $100,000 to cystic fibrosis causes. This year, all net proceeds will be donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Clinic at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, where Brooklyn is being cared for.
“We’re super proud,” Gentile said. “It’s nothing to do with what we’ve done. It’s really all to do with the big hearts and big donations of everyone who participates, of all of our volunteers who help, of our sponsors. So we’re delighted to be at the middle of it.”
This year, the Mirella and Nino Saputo Foundation have pledged to double all personal donations.
“So it’s gonna shape up to be our biggest event yet,” Gentile said.
“Spead Love” is happening Aug. 9 at the Glendale Golf Club. Gentile says it will be a day filled with golf, dinner, fun, excitement, and above all, love.
It’s just another step in the journey for Gentile, who’s dealt with the wide range of emotions that come when a child is sick.
“When we first got the diagnosis, when Brooklyn was born, it was very tough on us,” Gentile recounted. “And I saw it on my wife’s face as well. I mean, we had many nights of crying. And soon after, you kind of pick yourself up and you realize that children are so resilient. And we knew that this was just gonna be part of Brooklyn’s Superman cape, and her armour is gonna be something that was gonna make her special. It was going to help her overcome any type of adversity that she was gonna go through in life.
“There’s always hope. And events like this make sure that people rally around the idea of positivity and we’re able to donate to causes where science can catch up and write a beautiful ending to our story.”
