Ian Ireland was one of 60 golfers who hit the links in Feeding Hills to benefit a sanctuary for unwanted animals in Westfield.
The Agawam resident is a member of St. Anne’s Country Club — which is how he learned about the fourth annual tournament for the Whip City Animal Sanctuary. “I like to golf and I like to help animals — and from what I know, they can use every penny we raise from this tournament,” he said.
Ireland said he felt it was such “a great cause” after learning about what the farm does, that he asked three of his relatives to play with him as a foursome. “We call ourselves the Hot Dog Squad. For the tournament we all wore blue shirts emblazoned with little hot dogs.”
The sanctuary, a former dairy farm on Montgomery Road, is owned by Westfield natives Robin and Perry Plourde. They’ve turned the farm into a home for 100 animals rescued from abuse or neglect.
Several months after moving to the farm in September 2019, they created the nonprofit Whip City Animal Sanctuary to care and support unwanted animals. In the fall of 2020, the Plourdes opened a renovated barn to the public as animals meandered around the property for visitors to enjoy. Sonia Henderson, who volunteered at the tournament, has served on the sanctuary’s board of directors since 2020. She said the July 27 tournament was expected to raise about $8,000 – most of it from the $125 registration fee for players and from sponsorships. About a $1,000 came from raffles sold during the dinner.
Henderson said one of the farm’s goals is to erect a new barn to help ease some of the space issues. “We’re hopeful we can put some of the tournament money toward the new barn – which is estimated to cost about $200,000. We don’t make a ton of money from this, but enough to make a difference — $8,000 is the cost of hay for a year.”
The Springfield resident has coordinated all four golf tournaments for the sanctuary. “I wanted to organize these tournaments because I feel there’s an important need to have a home for unwanted farm animals. It’s also where families can visit to see these animals up close,” Henderson said.
Another volunteer at the tournament, Holly Sweatt from Westfield, also has been a member of the board of directors for four years. “This is one of our biggest fundraisers we do,” she said. “We’ve been so successful as a sanctuary that we’re at maximum capacity and can’t accept more animals.”
Anna LaPorte was one of 10 sanctuary volunteers who gave up part of their Saturday to help register golfers and assist with other things at the tournament. Earlier in the day, she went to the farm at 7 a.m. to help feed and care for animals. The Westfield resident is among the 70 to 80 people who volunteer regularly at the farm.
“I’m at the farm three days a week. I became a volunteer because I wanted to work with animals – it’s what I like to do, and I volunteer to do whatever I can to help out. That’s why I came to the tournament,” said LaPorte who began volunteering at the farm about eight months ago.
Joel Mollison, president of Northeast IT Systems in West Springfield, not only supported the tournament as a player, but also as one of its sponsors. His company was among more than a dozen local companies and individuals that donated raffle prizes, provided items for a “swag bag” each golfer received and sponsored tee boxes.
“My wife Christine and I love animals — and we love golf. It’s nice to support an organization that’s doing a tremendous service to our community,” said the Westfield resident.
Christine Mollison said the tournament is a fun way to help fund the farm. “They rely on donations and fundraisers like this. It takes a lot of money for to feed the animals as well as buy medicine and pay for veterinary services, so we’re happy to support them,” she said.
Besides donations during weekly open houses, the sanctuary usually has several annual fundraising events besides the golf tournament that have raised thousands of dollars to support the farm. In October, they plan to have add a new fundraiser at the farm: a classic car show.
Just as important as donations are volunteers who help manage the growing sanctuary. They come every day, four shifts a day, rain or shine, to feed, groom and exercise animals, muck stalls, help with building maintenance and coordinate fundraising events.
The sanctuary, 232 Montgomery Rd., has public visiting hours Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. For more information, go to its website, www.whipcityanimalsanctuary.com.
