We took a new approach on our Father's Day Adventure this year, having spent the last few on different football fields. We traded the artificial turf in for the fairway at The Rancho Bernardo Inn and Golf Course. This adventure expanded our imaginations, and was heavily influenced by how much fun we personally think golf carts are. We were hoping everyone else would feel the same, and we were unsurprisingly assured by dozens of smiles when everyone turned the corner to see all of their personalized golf carts waiting for them for the day.

One of our favorite things about hosting summer events is the spirit of adventure is in the air. School just got out, summer break just began, vacations are in the works, and everyone is ready to spend some quality time together. Any time we can spend together is a winning combination, but this day felt especially nice, as we had some new mentor faces who got to experience our Active Valor community for the first time. Our mentors are so inclusive and welcoming, our newcomers are often surprised with how at-ease they feel. Community is one of our core pillars, and we are so honored to be able to provide our amazing veterans with like-minded people to be surrounded with.

Our actual adventure was crafted around the entirety of the golf course. Sprinkled throughout all 18 holes were a variety of multi-leveled games that each pair competed in as a team. Pairs primarily stayed in their carts manned by their veteran mentors. They were met with steep competition, as they played cart-croquet, disk golf, a new take on catch, bocce ball, sticky dodge-ball, and so many others.

The favorite of the day was tied with cart-soccer, where teams had to punt a giant beach ball down the course in their golf carts, working in tandem to gain the most points, and our golf launcher, that shoots golf balls nearly 500 yards. Teams got the chance to shoot this launcher for a chance to make it into buckets waaaaay down the fairway. Surprisingly, one of our youngest mentees beat out everyone, which was a huge moment in the day! While our teams worked in competition with each other, our Gold Star Moms got to take advantage of the Rancho Bernardo Inn Spa, followed by an Italian style family dinner afterwards. Any chance to spend time together is always a treat, but we always feel particularly honored to be able to spend Father's Day weekend with our Gold Star Families and veteran mentors.

As always, we would be remiss without spending a moment to thank our incredible sponsors, ADS Inc for making this incredible event possible. ADS has gone above and beyond for our organization for years, and we are so grateful for their close partnership and caring hearts. We also want to recognize the Nassi Family for their family contribution as well! The Nassi Family went above and beyond for our mission, with their daughter, Naomi, running a mile every day of February in support of our mission. It is people like this who drive our mission forward, and make our events what they are!

Please take a moment to watch our event recap below!