Chip in for children with the 2026 Golf Tournament

BY KADIE TAYLOR 

THE LAFAYETTE SUN

CHAMBERS COUNTY — The Tri-County Children’s Advocacy Center is holding a Chip In for Children Golf Tournament on April 18 at the Point University Golf Club, located at 2001 Country Club Road in Lanett. Registration is $240 for a four-person team and opens at 7 a.m. CST, and tee-off is at 8 a.m.

“The Tri-County Children’s Advocacy Center works alongside DHR and law enforcement,” said Tri-County Children’s Advocacy Center Executive Director Jacqueline Burgess. “We are a nonprofit, but we work with those agencies to provide services for children who have been involved in allegations of abuse, neglect, sexual assault, witness to violent crime and things of that nature. So basically, if DHR or law enforcement receives a report involving a minor child, they bring the child to us, and we are the ones who interview the child. That way [the child] doesn’t have to talk to the police and be put in scary situations. They can come to us in a nice, calm, safe place and talk with a trained professional, and be interviewed to figure out what’s been going on, what they’ve seen and what’s happened. And then we provide that interview to law enforcement at DHR. We also have follow-up services, should they need them.”

Although the organization has tri-county in its name, Burgess said the center works with five counties: Chambers, Randolph, Tallapoosa, Clay and Coosa. 

“The support of the community has become extremely vital in the last five years, because our grant funding from the federal government has been cut by over $100,000,” she said. “So being able to sustain three offices in three separate counties and meet the need that is there has caused us to have to turn to the community for support, through fundraisers, through local donors and business sponsors — those kinds of people are what basically help us bridge the gap.”

Along with the support from the other four counties served by the Children’s Advocacy Center, Burgess said the support from Chambers County stands out and helps the organization in its mission. 

“This golf tournament is our biggest fundraiser,” she said. “Chambers County always shows up and supports us really well. Our office in Valley is very well taken care of and supported very well by that community. I can’t say enough about how much Chambers County, in particular, has supported us, and we appreciate them.”

A fun day that makes a difference, Burgess said the money raised by those who participate in the Golf Tournament will go directly to help fund the mission of the Tri-County Children’s Advocacy Center — helping children in East Alabama. 

“A huge thing is the money spent that tournament directly goes to the overhead costs of running the Valley office,” she said. “So that money allows us to be able to pay those bills, but then also it allows us to have our MediCal program. For every team fee that we get, that $240 is going to pay for a rape exam for a child. So that is a huge thing for people to know that we have to pay to perform an exam because we are not fully reimbursed for that; that’s what comes out of our pocket. So every team that plays would represent an exam for a child. That is always such a blessing to be able to have the funds to be able to serve as many children as we can.”

For more information, visit www.tri-co-cac.org/chip-in-for-children-golf-tournament.