Variety pedals on with annual charity event
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Damian, 12, rode one of the unique tricycles provided through the Variety organization at an annual charity golf tournament Tuesday, Sept. 22. Behind him are just a few of the 32 volunteers who worked with Variety that day. - Photos courtesy of Neil Crosby
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After receiving one of these tricycles last year, Piper came back to the Variety charity golf tournament in 2026 to show off her riding skills. - Photos courtesy of Neil Crosby
On Tuesday, Sept. 22, two children led more than 100 golfers onto the course at Willow Creek Golf Club in Farragut for the 14th annual tournament benefitting Variety, the children’s charity of Eastern Tennessee.
Variety provides mobility equipment such as wheelchairs, walkers, special adaptive bikes, prosthetics and cranial helmets for children. It also handles grant funding for local organizations where funds are specially placed for direct programming that serves at-risk children and children with special needs.
Along with proceeds from this charity event, sponsors Regal, BGIS and LTCI allow Variety to put on life-changing programs like Kids on the Go! — which has provided more than 200 pieces of mobility equipment to local children needing specialized care in 2026.
The tournament has been held every year since 2005,
and with 114 golfers participating, this year’s event raised the most money ever recorded for the total amount: $416,500.
“Without them,” Variety executive director Carol Fusco said of the sponsors, donors and more than 30 volunteers, “this would not be possible.”
Children Damian and Piper were on hand with their tricycles for the event, showing off machines giving children with different abilities a new outlook on life.
“She had received her trike last year, but she had so much fun, she decided to come back and help out,” Fusco said of Piper. “So in the morning, they led the golfers out onto the course with the shotgun start. She wanted to show off her riding skills. Usually when children come to us, their mobility is limited. And these trikes help with their endurance, their reciprocal movement and overall emotional health, so it’s a good piece of equipment for a child to have.
“And it’s a rite of passage for every child to have a bike, but some children can’t ride traditional bikes. So that’s where the trikes come in — everything is adapted for their ability.”
Aside from the tricycles donated this year alone, Fusco said the organization has raised more than $16 million for children across East Tennessee since its founding in 2001.
“Whenever kids outgrow their current trikes, they can come back and get new ones from Variety,” she said. “We work with three different equipment providers, and they bring the children to us. We also partner with the children’s hospital and they refer children to us as well.”
“It touches your heart to give a child that freedom of mobility,” she added. “Every day, I take for granted that
I can get from point A to point B, but it is harder for
children with different abilities. It means a lot to work for an organization that gives families hope because a lot of times, we are their last hope. We kick in when insurance doesn’t.
“Or if insurance does cover it, children get these trikes once every seven years. And if a child has a growth spurt during that time, the families are
out of pocket and that’s where Variety steps in. There is a lot of need, and working for an organization that gives hope to the community is immeasurable.”
