Dubé Classic Golf Tournament, Forever Five Foundation have raised more than $50,000.
When it comes to community support, the residents of St. Albert always seem to go the extra mile and that is exactly the case with the Dubé Classic Golf Tournament and the Forever Five Foundation.
Now in its third year, the fundraising golf tournament has raised more than $50,000 for the foundation in support of mental health.
The third edition of the classic was played out at Sturgeon Valley Golf and Country Club Thursday, Aug. 13, and celebrated a $15,000 cheque presentation to the Lionheart Foundation, a Calgary-based organization that provides financial subsidies to youth, young adults, and their families so they can gain access to community-based mental health therapists. The foundation will be putting the funds towards operating its Edmonton-based branch for capital region families.
The Dubé Classic and Forever Five Foundation were borne of the sad circumstances of Kyle and Luke Dubé, a local father and son whose lives ended far too soon. In 2021, the family was rocked by the loss of Luke to suicide at age 16. Just a few years later the family was shocked again as Kyle suddenly passed due to cardiac arrest in 2024.
For long-time Dubé family friend Ken Davey, the tournament evolved out of the idea of taking something tragic and using it to support something good.
“We thought ‘what could we do that that would bring a bunch of people together who knew the Dubé family, both Kyle and Luke, and turn it into something positive?’” he said. “The Dubé Classic was formed to be a place to bring people together who knew the Dubé family, to laugh and cry but also raise some money for mental health.”
For Davey, seeing the classic grow year after year and the growing support of the community, he believes it is something his best friend would have loved.
“The cool part is to see the community, to see the golf course support us, and a lot of the [business sponsors] stepping up and helping,” said Davey. “It’s just getting easier every year because people start to see the cause and the reason why we do it. It’s turning something very tragic into something positive in the best way we can.
“We wish we didn’t have to do this, because it’s two people gone too soon. But you know [Kyle] would have loved it because he’d see everybody gathering and everybody’s getting together, having fun, laughing, and enjoying themselves.”