Sober Corps

Sober Corps will be launching a 9-part Life Skills Workshop series in 2012. This series is aimed at individuals in their first year of recovery along with Sober Corps program graduates and our volunteer mentors. The series will cover topics such as personal goal setting, determining one’s own values, learning how to fix your credit, understanding how to develop and maintain a budget, tips and tricks for job hunting and interviewing skills, and other life skills issues. A complete list of topics and dates will be available soon so stay tuned for more information! The first session will be Thursday, January 26, at 7:00 p.m..

Save the Date!

Sober Corps will hold its 3rd Annual 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament on February 11, 2012.  Teams of 3-4 people can register to play in this double elimination tournament.  Stay tuned for registration and more details.

On Thursday, September 22nd, Sober Corps held the first ever 12-hole golf tournament.  The event, deemed “12 Holes for 12 Steps,” succeeded in raising both funds and awareness for Sober Corps’ program.  The event raised over $6,000.  The money goes directly to Sober Corps’ mission of providing mentorship and life skills training to men and women in their first year of recovery.  The tournament began at 2:00pm with a shotgun started.  By 5:30pm the golfers assembled in the clubhouse for a dinner and program.  The program included special guest speaker, Julio Becquer, one of the original Minnesota Twins.  The winning team was also announced: Avantstar!

The tournament would not have been possible without the generosity of our sponsors.

Dinner Sponsor: Ames Construction

Beverage Cart Sponsor: Ziegler CAT

Golf Cart Sponsor: MyPillow

Creative Sponsor: Neuger Communications Group

Hole Sponsors: Plehal Blacktopping, Gethsemane Episcopal Church of Minneapolis, St. Stephens Episcopal Church of Edina, Anderson Custom Homes, Steve & Nancy Krenz, Mark & Brooks Mahoney, Association of General Contractors of Minnesota, NuWay House, Bituminous Roadways and Ames Construction

Board Members Rick Jacobsen, Fred Myers and SteveKrenz with several golfers at registration

Board Member, Steve Krenz, announcing the rules of the 12-hole tournament

Golfers on the course

The team from Ziegler CAT.

Fred Myers discussing Sober Corps' mission and the meaning of the "12" caps

Special guest speaker, Julio Becquer, an original Minnesota Twin

Sober Corps, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting recovery programs by providing life-skill mentors to help people through their first years of freedom from chemical addiction, is putting a new spin on golf fundraisers. The organization announced today that it is hosting the inaugural “12 Holes for 12 Steps” golf event to benefit Sober Corps. Fred Myers, president of Sober Corps, said, “We are extremely excited about this tournament. Golf events are a terrific way to raise money and awareness for great causes like Sober Corps. We look to help people recover to a better life while recovering from chemical dependency and a destructive life.”

Golf events to benefit nonprofits are notorious for dragging on for hours. Sober Corps felt that a 12-hole scramble tournament would work better with participants’ schedules while honoring the importance of the 12-step process associated with chemical dependency recovery programs. “This is all about raising funds for a great organization and having fun doing so,” said Myers. The tournament will be held at Braemar Golf Course in Edina, Minn., on Thursday, September 22. “We will be playing a 12-hole scramble event with a twist – each foursome will be playing nine holes and will play three of the nine holes a second time and record only their best scores on those three holes,” he commented. “Because everyone deserves a second chance,” he added with a glint in his eye.

Sober Corps began operations in late 2007. Recognizing that a recovering alcoholic’s or addict’s journey to reintegrate into society is difficult – oftentimes with little hope and no network of support – Sober Corps focuses on reducing irresponsible chemical use and negative behavior with serious consequences, such as drunk driving. With nearly 30 volunteer mentors on its roster, Sober Corps promotes life-skills training and networking to strengthen the recovery process. Services are provided at no cost to participants in the program.

The “12 Holes for 12 Steps” event is designed to raise funds for the general operating support of Sober Corps. “We are run extremely lean as an organization,” Myers explained, “but the positive impact on the community and the individuals we serve is well beyond the dollars we spend. Time and time again we hear firsthand from our program participants and their families just how significant their relationship with Sober Corps is. We are an organization that is making a real impact on the health and well being of our community.”

For more information about Sober Corps or to register for the “12 Holes for 12 Steps” golf event, visit the Events section of our website or call Stephanie Malon-Rufi at 612.767.4360.

An article by Finance & Commerce reporter Brian Johnson titled “Helping others stay sober in the construction industry” tells the story of Sober Corps’ head-on approach to tackling addiction. The piece features quotes from founder Fred Myers and gives a behind-the-scenes peek at the momentum of support that’s building for the Sober Corps mission to help people achieve their first year of freedom from chemical addiction through life-skills mentorship, training and networking.

Sober Corps held its Second Annual 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament on Saturday, February 12, 2011. This year’s tournament winner is the team from Ziegler, Inc., photographed below with our President, Fred Myers.

2011 Sober Corps Basketball Tournament Winners with President Fred Myers (second from the left).

What if thousands of individuals donated $12 each month? Just think of the change that could be made!

When you donate $12 on the 12th of each month to Sober Corps, you know that the money is going to a valuable cause. It will be used to support people in their recovery so that they increase their chances of staying sober and learn how to be a productive members of society. Learn more.

On February 27, Sober Corps will hold a 3-on-3 tournament in the Malik Sealy “Gym of Dreams,” located inside Gethsemane Episcopal Church’s Parish Hall. Through the tournament, Sober Corps hopes to put a focus on the need to curtail drunk driving. Malik, who played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, was killed by a drunk driver in a head-on collision in May of 2000. The gymnasium was refurbished and dedicated to Malik by the Timberwolves in 2001.