13th annual JCC golf tournament

Published 6:46 pm Monday, November 24, 2008

The Stroum Jewish Community Center will hold its 13th annual Morris J. Alhadeff Memorial Golf Tournament and Joanie Alhadeff Bridge and Mah Jongg Challenge on Monday, June 27, at Glendale Golf Course.

The tournament includes several putting contests, with the opportunity to win a new car from Lexus of Bellevue for any golfer who gets a hole-in-one on the sixth hole. The tournament ends with a barbecue dinner and awards ceremony, followed by the putting contest finals.

The event is slated to raise $80,000 to support JCC programs and services, including scholarships for low-income families to attend the early childhood program and senior services

The tournament grew from a grassroots effort into one of the JCC’s major fund-raisers when businessman and local philanthropist Morris Alhadeff pledged a portion of the winnings from his race horse, “For the Children,” to support the event. Morris’ grandson, Aaron, has chaired the event for the past three years and will continue to this year with co-chair Jeff Benezra.

A sixth-generation resident of Seattle, Aaron Alhadeff is the president of Elttaes Enterprises, a family-owned holding company whose assets include the Majestic Bay Movie Theatre in Ballard.

Benezra grew up on Mercer Island, and attended summer camp and played basketball at the JCC. A golf fan, Jeff found it a natural point of reentry to support the JCC through the tournament. He has played in the tournament for the past 10 years, and was on the golf committee for four years before becoming the co-chair this year.

Corporate sponsors include The Benaroya Company, Coca Cola, Simon Golub & Sons, Schwartz Brothers Restaurants/Gretchen’s Shoebox Express, Key Bank and San Mar.