Editor’s Note: “Time for Some Good News” is a feature that spotlights the good deeds, great people and positive stories in the landscaping industry. If you have your own good news to share, reach out to Seth Jones at sjones@northcoastmedia.net or Scott Hollister at shollister@northcoastmedia.net.
Since 2012, the nonprofit organization Dream On 3 has been supporting kids with life-altering conditions by making their best sports-related dreams come true.
Kids ages 5-21 are able to receive a customized experience with their favorite athlete, sports team, sporting event and more thanks to the donations and charitable events organized by Dream On 3. And this year, a familiar face in the turf care industry is getting involved.
You may recognize Jay Wyrick, agronomist at FineTurf in Charlotte, N.C., from the (many) times he’s shared his knowledge for LM’s “Turf School” feature or even from events such as the LM Growth Summit. But what you may not know is that his team was nominated to take part in Dream On 3’s Queen City Business of the Year campaign, a friendly competition between four large and four small (including FineTurf) companies to raise money for kids in need.
“They had a golf outing at the end of June at Top Golf, and all the teams were there,” Wyrick says. “They had two former (dream recipients) to talk about their dreams and what the organization had done for them, and so that was a good way to get going and learn more about how everything operates.”
And to really get things going, the team at FineTurf hosted a golf tournament at North Carolina’s Olde Sycamore Golf Club in November, with a goal of raising $10,000 for the charity.
“Overall, it went really well, and we raised close to our goal of $10,000 — we look at that as a success, and I think everybody had a lot of fun,” he says.
Despite initially needing to reschedule for weather, Wyrick says the turnout was good, and the support from familiar vendors such as Harrell’s, SiteOne, local partners and industry friends went a long way. Plus, a local brewery who was a Queen City campaign finalist in 2024 even donated beverages for the tournament.
And after a day of friendly golf, food and drinks, closest-to-the-pin and longest drive contests, giveaways and more, Wyrick says he got a lot of positive feedback that he hopes can make the tournament even better in the following years.
But before he gets too ahead of himself, Wyrick first plans on experiencing his first Carolinas Dream Gala — the nonprofit’s annual black-tie event held in Charlotte each January. Ben Allred, CEO at Dream On 3, says the gala hosts roughly 15-20 dream experience recipients plus their families.
“If celebrities come to our gala, they’re typically just attendees, because our kids are our celebrities,” Allred says. “Our kids sign autographs. Our kids are the ones that we feature in mission moments. Our kids are introduced to everybody at the gala, and everything at our gala is focused on those kids and their experiences.”
The gala hosts around 1,200 people as the pinnacle event of the year, and everything leading up to the gala, including the Queen City campaigns, sponsorships, gala table sales, auctions and more, pulls in somewhere between $1.5-1.8 million each year. As a signature tradition, it also combines formal wear tennis shoes, further highlighting the sports theme.
And with Dream On 3 being founded in Harrisburg, just northeast of Charlotte, the gala, golf tournament and other charitable events are all ingrained as huge parts of the community. Allred says local companies like FineTurf getting involved really helps further spread awareness and the spirit of giving throughout the city and beyond.
“I think they all had a good time,” Wyrick says. “I think it opened a few of these guys’ eyes to doing something very similar, to try to work with their communities and help in any way they can through charity, so I thought that was really a good thing to see.”
