ROME, N.Y. -- The Michelle Adey Open, the main fund-raiser for the Michelle M. Adey Memorial Fund, will mark its 25^th Anniversary this year when the event tees off on July 20^th at the Rome County Club.

Michelle Adey, the daughter of Michael Adey and Mary Carmel Wolf, died of Cystic Fibrosis in 1982 at age 6. To keep her memory alive, and to help families of children with life-threatening illnesses deal with the financial burden of travel, hospital costs and other expenses, Michelle’s family and friends started the ‘Michelle Fund’.

“When Michelle was sick, so many people opened their hearts to us that we wanted to find a way to provide that type of help to parents who are living through what we went through,” said Michael Adey, Michelle’s father and the golf tournament chair. “The golf tournament is the major fund-raiser we have to help pass along kindness to families in need. Because of the great support we have received over the years, we have been able to help more than 270 families through $420,000 in donations to families in Oneida, Madison, Herkimer and Lewis counties.”

As the tournament nears its 25^th tee-off, it is one of the longest running golf tournaments of its kind in the region. “Every year we have some of the friends who stood by us when Michelle was sick and who helped us start the tournament 25 years ago,” Adey said. “We cherish these old friends, and we welcome the many new friends who join us every year. Every year, this tournament reminds me that we live in a community that has so much heart, so much goodness and so much generosity.”

There are a limited number of openings still available for this year’s tournament. For information, contact Mike Adey at 336-0818.