In March 1997, twins, Nicholas Ryan and Valerie Anne were born to Dave and Beverly Moser. The Mosers had three other children: Chelsea, Travis, and Leah. In 1998, Dave went to India to serve alongside a group of people running a hospital and school in a remote town close to the northern border. Dave called home while there, and said, “I have fallen in love!” He had fallen in love with the people and the work of this small group of indigenous healers, who were serving their community and which had an infant mortality rate of over 20%. Dave’s world would never be the same.
On July 17, 2000, Dave’s world changed again, for on that day Valerie Anne Moser, then 3 years old, drowned. And yet, as it often does, grief shared by a loving community yielded beauty and goodness. Dan Toohey, a family friend and a faithful member of the Moser’s community, suggested to Dave that they have a memorial golf tournament. Dave agreed to what he thought Dan was suggesting: 10 or so friends playing golf a few times. But Dan had bigger dreams. “No, no, no,” he said. “I’m talking about raising $8-10,000!” Two other friends, Dan Calhoun and Kevin Morton, added their energy to the idea and the Valerie Anne Moser Memorial Golf Tournament was born.
The first tournament was held in October 2000 and, true to Dan’s vision, $8000 was raised! Since then, a tournament has been held every year in October, and over $500,000 has been sent to Utrala, India to support the work at Emmanual School and Prem Sewa Hospital. With these funds, the hospital has refurbished some of the wards, added an eye clinic and a neonatal unit, and more doctors to their staff. They have provided community health outreach, including bicycles for their staff to reach the more remote homes in their area, and funded education for several of the staff members’ children.
A few years after that first tournament, some of the money raised was directed to establishing an AWANAS group in Winston-Salem, NC. Now the monies go to some local organizations FROG, City Lights Ministries and InDeed Youth Ministries as well as continuing to serve the people of India.
The tournament has continued to grow, and each year more money is raised, new people come to play and new people come to help.
The Moser Family
