Benona Shores Golf Course looked a little different than usual Sunday, Sept. 14. Instead of the usual array of experienced players and weekend hackers, people out on the course saw many golfers wearing bright colors, especially pink; golf carts decked out in shiny decorations and Mickey Mouse-shaped cutouts; and various prizes given away.
It was part of the first-ever Unicorn Open, a fundraiser for Bella’s Place and a partner organization, Michigan-based Canines for Change. The event took place in honor and memory of Bella Durga, who passed away at five years old in February 2022 from Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC), a rare occurrence that causes some 400 deaths per year in children one year of age or older. It bears similarities to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), which affects children under one year old, in that it has no known cause - though researchers have speculated that undetected seizures could be involved - and there’s no known way to prevent it.
Bella’s parents, Sara and Jordan Durga, have done a lot of community service in her memory since, including raising money for a new outdoor play area at New Era Christian School, also called Bella’s Place, in September 2022. They’ve talked for years about organizing an event like the Unicorn Open, and decided this spring to jump into planning it, choosing the September date because it fell close to Bella’s birthday, which was Sept. 21.
The Unicorn Open’s name and bright colors referenced Bella’s love of unicorns, and the Mickey cutouts were in honor of one of her favorite characters, Minnie Mouse.
“There are probably 10 of us in the family at this point that have some sort of unicorn tattoo,” Jordan Durga said. “Her room was decorated with some unicorn stuff and some stuffed animals and bright colors.”
That same theme - which the Durgas also brought to Bella’s celebration of life - carried onto the course; Jordan said players were encouraged to dress in bright colors and decorate their carts, and the best in each of those departments received prizes. There were also prizes, donated by local businesses, that were bid on via a silent auction.
Jordan Durga said the Open raised roughly $25,000, much of which will be donated to the SUDC Foundation, a privately-funded nonprofit that supports families affected by the tragedies.
Another nonprofit that will benefit from the Unicorn Open is Canines for Change - dogs were another love of Bella’s - to donate therapy dogs to schools in the area. Jordan Durga said each dog costs $12,000 to purchase and train - training takes a year - and a private donor has matched donations dollar for dollar to pay half that amount. The first dog the Durgas were able to donate, which was named Rosie after the name Bella gave to her favorite stuffed animal, went to Grand Haven Christian School and now lives with a second-grade teacher there, Jordan said.
“She lives a working life in the morning and a dog’s life in the evening,” Jordan Durga said of Rosie. “The dogs provide therapeutic support for students who struggle emotionally. They sometimes bring (the dogs) in for reading and math, because studies show dramatic improvement for students who struggle with that when she’s there.”
While distribution of the money raised hasn’t been finalized, Durga said he was looking at using $12,000 of it, plus the private donor’s matching funds, to purchase two more service dogs for Canines for Change and provide at least a $10,000 donation to the SUDC Foundation.
The Open generated a lot of positive feedback, Durga said, in addition to the money raised, and the family is already excited to bring it back next year.
