March 24, 2025, 10:50 AM
In October 2024, a charity golf tournament advertised as a fundraiser which would help empower young girls in Maryland took place at the Lakewood Country Club in Rockville, and to those who attended, it appeared to be a success.
But now, almost five months later, the two charities advertised as the beneficiaries of the Leonard Sports Management Celebrity Golf Tournament say they haven’t seen a dime from the event put on by the company of which Ray Leonard Jr., the son of famed boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, is the CEO.
Shannon Babe-Thomas is with Community Bridges from Silver Spring, which works to empower young girls in grades 4-12. In August, she said she received a message from someone with Leonard Sports Management who informed the organization that it had been selected to be a beneficiary charity of the tournament, and it was an offer Babe-Thomas said she was excited to accept.
“I thought, well, a beneficiary of a celebrity golf tournament. That sounds amazing,” Babe-Thomas told WTOP.
In emails viewed by WTOP, Babe-Thomas sent logos and other information about her organization and made plans to not only attend herself, but also bring volunteers who would help raise money for the event at different holes.
In the weeks that followed the invitation, social media posts, including some featuring celebrity sports figures who would be in attendance, were posted online, advertising the event which would benefit Community Bridges and a second charity, Baltimore’s Lady Lions youth basketball program.
Babe-Thomas also made a video promoting the event, which was posted to the management company’s Instagram page.
On the day of the event, Oct. 21, 2024, Babe-Thomas said she arrived early to the country club.
“Players started to come. It looked like it was going to be a great day. The course was packed. The weather was beautiful,” Babe-Thomas said.
She recalled meeting several celebrities, among them current and former sports figures, at the event and seeing food, drinks and activities at every hole, including what she called a “party scene” at the eighth hole.
“Everyone’s enjoying drinking and consuming a lot of alcohol,” Babe-Thomas said.
Several social media posts by Leonard Sports Management on Instagram and Ray Leonard Jr. on Facebook in one video tout “an amazing turnout” for the company’s first golf tournament.
But after the tournament, Babe-Thomas said it’s been a long wait for a check that has yet to come.
On Dec. 17, Babe-Thomas said there was some hope when in a response to an Instagram post made by Community Bridges, the account for LSM responded: “Congratulations. Our donation will be coming soon for golf! Merry Christmas.”
Months would pass after that message came, and no money was ever received.
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