Broken Arrow Youth Ranch held their annual Golf Classic fundraiser over the weekend, raising money for their programs.

The organization was unable to hold an event last year due to the pandemic, and this year they had a bit of a change to keep golfers safe.

The golfers spread out to golf all over the prairies, from Alberta to Manitoba, all to raise money for the Ranch according to coordinator Todd Moroz.

"This year we held a virtual event. We had golfers that were spread out over a number of communities from as far away as Whitecourt to Winnipeg," said Moroz, "Golfers were golfing at the course of their choice, and then we had some live streaming aspects through it."

The ranch had 9 teams participate, each of which went to raise money through pledges and donations to the ranch.

"All the teams that did participate had a great time," said Moroz. "It was a great weekend for everybody."

"Because of covid, we ended up canceling our event last year, so it was so good for people to get together this time and I think everyone's been looking forward to being able to gather a little bit."

Though the golfers weren't able to all gather in one spot, Moroz says that they saw some unintended benefits from the virtual event.

"Other years, people have traveled a really long distance to come, so it made it more convenient for them," said Moroz. "It was neat that it allowed some families to get together. We saw a number of dads and grandpas golfing with their grandchildren and own children."

The money is set to help out some of the day-to-day operations of the ministry at Broken Arrow and some of the programs that support children.

Currently, there's still money coming in from pledges and the silent auction that was also held, so the total amount isn't known yet.

But so far, Moroz says that they've gathered around $16,000.

"We're still having some trickle in, but we're pretty excited about the amount," said Moroz.