Bags and Brews cornhole tournament raises funds for foster care services

The Bags and Brews tournament turned the Charlotte County Fairgrounds into a cornhole-and-brews festival built around competition and a cause. On Saturday, June 13, 2026, the 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. event ran indoors with air conditioning at 2333 El Jobean Road in Port Charlotte, giving players a full-day setting for one of southwest Florida’s more polished charity bag events.

Players entered either the advanced or recreational division as two-person teams, with both brackets priced at $50 through the early-bird deadline and $60 after that. The event was limited to participants 21 and older, and the day came loaded with extras: each player received three free raffle tickets and two complimentary beers, while food, a raffle, a 50/50 drawing, music, vendors and special beer pricing kept the atmosphere closer to a festival than a stand-alone tournament.

The competitive side still mattered. The advanced bracket offered cash-equivalent American Express gift card payouts for first through fourth place, and the recreational division also carried prizes for its top finishers. That structure gave serious players a reason to chase the higher-tier bracket while still leaving room for recreational teams to compete for hardware and prizes without needing elite-level experience.

The larger mission was the point. Camelot Community Care said 100% of the proceeds from the tournament and the food-and-drink operation went to its foster care services and programs in Southwest Florida. The organization works with children and families facing abuse, neglect, behavioral health issues and substance abuse, and it says it serves about 7,000 families each year through programs that include adoption support, foster home recruitment and licensing, family reunification, family safety and preservation, in-home counseling and school-based day treatment.

That nonprofit reach gave the event added weight on a Father’s Day weekend calendar already crowded with social options. Sponsorships ranged from title-level support to vendor and naming opportunities, showing how cornhole has become more than a backyard game: it is now a fundraising engine with real business value and a clear civic payoff. The sport’s growth has tracked with that change, as the American Cornhole Organization dates its founding to 2005 and its first nationals to 2006, a timeline that mirrors how quickly competitive bags has moved into organized event culture.