Emree Cameron has been fundraising for charitable causes since she was a nine-year old competing in the Drive, Chip and Putt Championships at Augusta National Golf Club. There, while finishing third in her age division, she raised over $6,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Sadie Keller Foundation.
Now, as a rising high school senior and an AJGA Champion, Cameron is still fundraising for charitable causes important to her. Cameron is in her second year with the AJGA’s Leadership Links program, which empowers junior golfers to impact their communities through fundraising for and volunteering with charities of their choice.
In 2023, she raised money for the Hunter L Mason Foundation, an organization created to further the legacy of Hunter Mason, a Western Illinois University football player from her hometown who tragically passed away from brain cancer at the age of 22. As part of her efforts, Cameron had personal headcovers for her driver made featuring a cross and the number 36, Mason’s football uniform number. She would use the headcovers in AJGA and other events and then auction them off; one of the headcovers was even bought by a professor of Mason’s at Western Illinois.
Cameron also traveled to various charity tournaments in the area and would do “drive for donations” where people would donate to use her drive on a hole. These efforts led to $2,270 raised last year, with half going to the Hunter L Mason Foundation and the other half to AJGA’s Liberty National Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant.
At the start of 2024, Emree’s dad asked her if she wanted to spend another year fundraising through the Leadership Links program.
I was like, 'yes,' because I really like it. I’ve raised money since I was nine years old and I like being able to know that I have an impact in someone’s life.
This year, Cameron is fundraising for Rapha International, an organization that works to end trafficking and sexual abuse of children. Cameron was connected to the organization through her pastor and is passionate about the charity’s mission. She appreciates that she’s able to fundraise for another charity close to home; Rapha is headquartered in Joplin, Missouri, about an hour away from her hometown of Nevada, Missouri.
While Cameron had fundraising experience before joining Leadership Links, the program has bolstered her work to help others.
[Leadership Links] actually taught me that I can be independent, being able to talk to people and show them that I’m involved in the community and that I use my talent to help others, I think that’s huge.
At a recent event, Cameron put those skills into practice. She struck up a conversation with her playing partner’s grandfather who had noticed her AJGA bucket hat, received as an incentive for raising over $500 in the Leadership Links program. Cameron explained Leadership Links and said that he was impressed that the program was able to get junior golfers involved with fundraising and that participating juniors take their work so seriously.
There’s nothing to be uncomfortable about because of the support of the support system they have, [with] how involved the AJGA is and how much they’re able to help you in their emails, they keep you on track.
For Cameron, Leadership Links is the perfect combination of independence and support, especially as she wants to continue raising money for charitable causes in college. She’s committed to play golf at the University of Louisville and knows that even though her free time will be limited; she wants to keep doing whatever she can to meet more people and help causes important to her heart.
Her advice to other juniors who want to start their own fundraising journey through Leadership Links?
Make sure you’re also very involved in the organization that you’re raising money for…whatever you’re doing, it will have an impact on your life to where you’ll just want to keep doing it and doing it.”
To learn more about and get involved with the Leadership Links program, contact Katie Lamfers klamfers@ajga.org
or visit the Leadership Links website.
To support Emree’s charitable efforts, visit her personal Leadership Links page.