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Commonwealth CARES Classic to be held at Ralston Creek Course
By Elizabeth Bush
May 7, 2008 - 10:45:20 AM

PROVIDED BY MUSC College of Medicine students Alice Uflacker, right, and Maryshell Zaffino perform an exam on patient Claudia Duke at CARES Clinic Jan. 14. The CARES (Community Aid, Relief, Education, and Support) Clinic aims to provide quality, preventive and episodic primary health care to the uninsured, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, immigration or socioeconomic status.

More than 100 golfers will tee off in the inaugural Commonwealth CARES Classic Golf Invitational at Daniel Island’s acclaimed Ralston Creek Course on Tuesday, May 13. The event will benefit the C.A.R.E.S. Clinic, a non-profit organization initiated and managed by MUSC medical students that provides free medical care to the underserved, uninsured population in the local Charleston area.

Located on Six Mile Road in Mount Pleasant, the C.A.R.E.S. (Community – Aid – Relief – Education – Support) Clinic has helped over 2,000 patients since opening its doors in 2005. Wanda Gonsalves, M.D., who currently runs the facility, is able to witness firsthand the benefits it is having on all involved.

"The experience gained by students is early pre-clinical exposure, leadership and team building skills," said Gonsalves, a family medicine physician and associate professor at MUSC. "For me, it is important that students continue to nurture their volunteerism that is sometimes lost when they are not given these types of opportunities. (The) benefits to the community are simply that we are caring for a population that would otherwise be going to the emergency room or simply waiting until their illness is more severe, costing the community and the patients much more."

In addition to volunteer medical students, the clinic is also staffed by practicing physicians from around the region. Its hours of operation are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

"The Commonwealth CARES Classic is the first of many community fundraisers for our foundation," said Britt Gilbert, president of Commonwealth Financial. "Our primary goal is to assist families within our community that are in need of financial assistance in the form of health care or other daily financial needs that we take for granted. Handling the needs of our clients, we realize how blessed we are to have financial security. As financial advocates we want to protect the hopes and dreams of others. If we can do that, we’ve made a difference."

There is still time to register to participate in the Commonwealth CARES Classic. For additional information, or to download a registration form, visit the event’s official Web site at www.commonwealthfg.com/CCC/. You may also contact Commonwealth Financial Group by phone at (843) 884-4545.