Last year, Alex Bennett, 16 year old son of Shelbi and Lee Bennett and attends Oak Ridge High School, organized a fundraising effort, namely the Buy-A-Day Charity Golf Tournament and Boutique. All of the proceeds from this event - $28,000.00 - were gifted to the Fund for the Homeless at the El Dorado Community Foundation.

This year, Alex entered an essay contest that “discusses the positive and/or negative influences electronic media might have on providing citizens with reliable information about important issues”, sponsored by the Democratic Central Committee of El Dorado County. Alex placed second in the contest and received a check for $500.00. But, as you might imagine from a young man with this kind of heart and focus for giving back to those less fortunate, the contest was not about the money for him. He gifted half of his award to Mitokids, helping to fund research for children with mitochondrial disease, and the other half to, you guessed it, the Fund for the Homeless.

The El Dorado County Office of Education hosted and the Democratic Central Committee hosted a luncheon in honor of the three winners of the contest on Saturday, March 27th. Alex’s family and the entire staff from the El Dorado Community Foundation was there to applaud Alex’s accomplishment and his philanthropy.