Mercy Haven’s 19th Annual Golf Outing
On Monday, June 4th, over two hundred friends of Mercy Haven, Inc. gathered at the Hamlet Golf & Country Club in Commack for our 19th Annual Golf Outing. This outing was particularly special to Mercy Haven as we honored Bud Harrelson, who for the past ten years has been a supporter of our programs, which provide essential services to the homeless population on Long Island. Harrelson was a shortstop for the NY Mets, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Texas Rangers, as well as the Mets Coach and Head Manager. He is the only person to be a member of the NY Mets for both World Series championships – in 1969 as a player and in 1986 as a coach. He is currently part owner of the Long Island Ducks.
A rainy morning broke way for a sunny afternoon, just as the 144 golfers loaded their clubs into their golf carts and rode onto the course, almost as though Mercy Haven’s founder and Executive Director S. Patricia Griffith had willed the sun to shine. Looking to beat the pro, get a hole-in-one and have the shortest distance to the pin, golfers played in each contest in good fun and all were in high spirits as they raised money for Mercy Haven’s mission.
After playing 18 holes, our guests enjoyed cocktails and dinner, while bidding on baskets and prizes ranging from Broadway show tickets to an airplane ride over New York City. One of Mercy Haven’s residents, Belinda, spoke about her positive transformation as a participant in Mercy Haven’s Breakthrough program, which helps residents identify factors that led to their chronic homelessness and assists them in achieving measurable progress in their own daily goals. She said, “I enrolled in the Breakthrough program which gave me fundamental tools to get through day to day life. Since I graduated Breakthrough things people take for granted, such as decision making, have become simple everyday tasks. To stand here today and be able to say I’ve been making healthy decisions instead of just letting them be made for me is a huge accomplishment. I have taken my tools from Breakthrough and implemented them in the pursuit of my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. My dream is to use my degree to help the very people I spent two years getting to know, the homeless, get through their journey through homelessness.”
S. Pat then spoke about our friend Bud Harrelson, and invited him front and center to receive the audience’s accolades for his continued support throughout the years. Attendees sang a personalized rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” to Harrelson, which was written by Mercy Haven co-founder, S. Kathy Nolan.
S. Pat summed up the day’s sentiments perfectly, noting the impact of the lives that are changed by being touched by Mercy Haven. She ended the evening with this parting thought: “No one of us is spared the inclusion of a person living with mental illness in our circle of family or friends. The gift of Belinda’s words today challenges us to disarm the prejudice that is associated with this illness and to become an advocate for understanding, compassion and inclusion. We live with this hope that this leap into compassion will sweep us up into creating a more compassionate world for all.”
