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The inaugural “Plays for Hope” fundraiser held at The Club at Castlewood over three days this summer generated more than $450,000 to benefit Hope Hospice.
Evolving from the former Hope 100 Golf Marathon fundraiser, “Plays for Hope” saw nearly 300 Castlewood members and community participants compete from Aug. 28-30 in golf, pickleball, tennis, bocce and golf skills challenges to support the nonprofit hospice organization serving the Tri-Valley. The event culminated in a community dinner and live auction that Sunday evening.
“We are incredibly grateful to our partners at The Club at Castlewood and to everyone who participated, volunteered, sponsored, and supported the remarkable weekend,” said Skelly Wingard, CEO of By the Bay Health, the nonprofit that operates Hope Hospice. “This partnership strengthens Hope Hospice’s ability to remain a trusted community resource.”
Castlewood Board President Mark Mullaney said that reimagining the golf marathon as a new, more expansive fundraiser felt fitting for the club’s milestone 100th anniversary year in 2026.
“Castlewood Plays for Hope offered our members and the broader community an opportunity to come together, give back, and make a meaningful impact,” Mullaney said in the By the Bay Health press release.
“The event was made possible through the vision and persistence of Kathleen and Jim Berriatua, longtime community leaders and Hope Hospice advocates,” Mullaney added. “Kathleen, a trained nurse practitioner and former Hope Hospice board member, spent 12 years architecting the Hope 100 fundraiser. This inaugural Castlewood Plays for Hope is an expansion of that legacy and a testament to their unwavering belief in Hope’s mission.”
The $450,000-plus will help the nonprofit organization provide hospice and palliative care for its patients, grief support, dementia education and resources for family caregivers. “That nonprofit commitment is increasingly distinctive: every dollar raised goes directly to patient care, not to investors,” By the Bay Health reps noted – in a nod to the statewide and national discourse on hospice providers.
“The generosity shown through Castlewood Plays for Hope demonstrates how strongly this community values having a nonprofit hospice dedicated to serving local patients and families,” senior vice president Anthony Lupian said. “The funds raised ensure that Hope Hospice can continue to serve everyone who needs us, regardless of their ability to pay. That commitment matters increasingly in a landscape where 94% of hospice care is for-profit.”
