Tee Up Fore Kids scramble raises funds for Northland youth programs

The Tee Up Fore Kids scramble at Ridgeview Country Club put money into the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Northland at the exact moment families need it most: when summer programming is starting and demand is rising across Duluth, Superior, Grand Rapids, Coleraine and Hibbing. CEO Lynn Reins said, "This is our kick off to summer."

That timing matters because the club says it serves more than 8,000 kids ages 6 to 18 across Northeastern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin, and its six branches are now in summer hours from June 12 through the end of August. Reins said the organization had just opened its summer programming and was seeing an average of about 180 kids a day across those sites, a sign that the need is immediate, not abstract.

The scramble was also part of a larger local fundraising machine. Silent auctions and raffles added to the money raised, and the club says those dollars go back into youth programming, not a single isolated project. That support helps cover the basics that often determine whether a child has a safe place to go after school and in summer: academic support, meals, mental health services and mentorship. The club says it provides more than 96,000 meals and snacks, underscoring how much of its work is about filling gaps for families, not just offering recreation.

The event carried national weight, too. Boys & Girls Clubs of America marked National Boys & Girls Club Week from June 22 through June 26, 2026, a tradition that dates to 1941 and this year included themes built around workforce readiness, leadership, mentoring and skills for success. Ridgeview Country Club’s June calendar listed a Boys & Girls Club event on June 22, and the Northland club has described Tee Up Fore Kids as an annual fundraiser. Its 2024 event page called that year’s scramble the 16th annual Boys & Girls Clubs of the Northland Tee Up Fore Kids Golf Classic, showing the fundraiser has become a long-running fixture.

For Northland families, the practical result is straightforward: a stronger summer season, more staff-supported hours, and more kids able to spend the day in a structured place instead of going without. The scramble does not solve every funding need, but it shrinks the gap that opens each year when school lets out and the club’s caseload grows.