CCEMS hosts golf tourney to help fund medical scholarships

November 1, 2010

By KEVIN KOLOIAN

Updated: 11.01.10

More than 150 players were in attendance at the Northgate Country Club to play in the 2010 Cypress Creek Emergency Medical Services Scholarship Golf Classic, which helps provide scholarships to emergency medical technician and paramedic hopefuls in the community.

Along with the FM 1960 St. Patrick’s Day Parade, another crucial fundraiser for Cypress Creek EMS, the Scholarship Golf Classic, allowed CCEMS to provide scholarships, including books and tuition, to nine paramedic students and 16 EMT students this year. CCEMS has estimated that it raised about $20,000 through the Scholarship Golf Classic alone.

“It has meant more than words can explain that I was chosen to receive a scholarship to be able to pursue my dream in becoming an EMT,” said Allen Green, scholarship beneficiary. “I have been a nonmedical driver for about a year and a half with CCEMS and enjoy it. I have always wanted to pursue my passion for learning emergency medicine and to provide pre-hospital care when someone has needed it.

“Through the golf tournaments that CCEMS holds annually that helps raise money for the scholarship program. I was blessed to become a recipient of the scholarship. Thank you everyone that contributes to the CCEMS scholarship program.”

It costs $2,500 for an 18-month course to be a paramedic, plus another $400 for books. The EMT classes run somewhat like college with fall, spring and summer semesters and is a little less expensive.

“We are all about the community,” said Jennifer Clemonds, community relations for CCEMS. “The Scholarship Golf Classic is a way for us to give back and get more medics out on the street.”

People from all different walks of life train to be EMTs and paramedics at CCEMS. The organization even offers classes to high school students, specifically those that attend Carl Wunsche Sr. High.

“We have younger people that are starting out in the workforce and, with this tough economic time, others that are looking for a new career,” Clemonds said.

To qualify for a scholarship, people need to write an essay and go through an interview process.

CCEMS estimates that about 75 percent of its scholarship recipients stay with the organization, mostly through volunteering and some hire-in.

The volunteer-based 911 ambulance service is always looking for volunteers, Clemonds explained. It covers 250 square miles of North/Northwest Harris County and responds to approximately 30,000 calls annually, serving more than 500,000 people.

Clemonds said without the help from its sponsors and the support of the players in the Scholarship Golf Classic, the nonprofit would not be able to continue to add medics to the community.

For more information on CCEMS, visit www.ccems.com.