Brothers raise more than $6000 for COVID-19 relief

📰 – Story Courtesy of the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA)

In the span of 13 days, Aksel and Jonas Moe raised $6,153 for COVID-19 relief.

The 13- and 14-year-old brothers, from Richville, Minnesota, were inspired by their AJGA friends’ fundraising efforts.

When the pandemic hit the United States, the Moe brothers decided they also wanted to raise as much money as they could to help healthcare workers get the protection they needed.

The Moe family reached out through their network: sent emails, texts, and reached out through social media to get their campaign underway to raise money and awareness.

The Moes’ original goal of $5,000 was surpassed in a week thanks to generous donations from family and friends who agreed to match funds. In an effort to get creative, Jonas accepted the challenge of shaving his head for a $25 donation.

“We kept raising our goals as funds came in,” Aksel Moe said. “We decided to run the campaign for 13 days so the money could be distributed as soon as possible since the situation continues to be so urgent.”

The Moe brothers join a group of more than 50 juniors who have raised more than $25,000 dollars through Leadership Links for Direct Relief, a humanitarian aid organization in more than 80 countries. The organization is currently focused on providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to health care workers, making ICU medication and equipment more accessible and providing staffing and support to overwhelmed facilities.

“Our fundraising campaign gave us a sense of purpose,” Jonas Moe said. “We don’t know what is going to happen this summer, but we are trying to get the most out of every day and make a difference in this difficult time.”

Since 2009, more than 3,177 total junior golfers have:

• logged nearly 30,000 volunteer hours
• raised nearly $3 million dollars
• supported more than 2,500 charitiesThe Leadership Links mission is to help juniors make a community impact. AJGA resources and tools make giving back to the community easy and fun.

To start, juniors select a charity and email Beth Dockter (bdockter@ajga.org) to get started. A personalized website and marketing materials will be created to support fundraising goals. Participants can choose how they want to be involved:

• volunteer their time
• host a State Cup Series match play event with their friends (like the Mason Cup, Carolina Cup and nearly 10 others)
• invite community donors for golf or social functions
• create something totally new

Proceeds are split between the junior’s charity and the AJGA’s Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant program. The ACE Grant is a financial assistance program which ensures junior golfers play in top tournaments by covering entry fees and travel expenses for qualified national junior golf, high school state and USGA events.

Support active junior campaigns for COVID-19 relief.