MIRAMAR, Fla. – Eastern Financial Florida CU, the troubled credit union giant taken over by regulatoprs last week, said yesterday it raised almost $50,000 for charity during Monday’s Swing 4 the Kids charity golf tournament.
The tournament, held at the prestigious Grande Oaks Country Club in Davie, benefitted Big Brothers Big Sisters of Broward County for a second year in a row.
This year’s tournament theme was Back to the Shack, a reference to the 1970’s golf movie Caddyshack that was filmed in part at Grande Oaks. To pay homage, signs bearing memorable lines from the movie were placed in between holes. On the tenth tee, golfers competed to see who could drive a carnation the farthest recreating a scene from the movie’s greens keeper character played by comedian actor Bill Murray. On another hole, players had an opportunity to submerge their hand into a bucket of "greasy grimy gopher guts", fake of course, to pull out a key, one of which fit a treasure box of prizes. In addition, there were standard contests for long drive and closest to the pin on par 3 holes.
Since its inception five years ago, Swing 4 The Kids has netted $280,000 for such non-profits like The United Way Children’s Fund, His House, The Haven and The Starting Place.
The $1.6 billion credit union, faced with large losses that eliminated all of its capital, was taken under conservatorship last Friday by NCUA. Space Coast CU, a similar-sized credit union located 100 miles north in Melbourne, Fla., has applied to NCUA to acquire Eastern Financial.
