Warburton raises record-breaking amount for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Actor, golf fan and philanthropist Patrick Warburton joined forces with celebrated tournament chairman Clarke Rheney in 2010, and together the pair dreamed up a charitable weekend that would blend Warburton's popularity as a celebrity with Rheney's knowledge of how to successfully operate golf tournaments. The Coachella Valley with its spectacular surroundings and some of the country's most challenging courses was to prove the perfect home for what became The Warburton, an annual celebrity golf tournament benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Prior to the 2024 tournament, The Warburton had raised more than $26 million for St. Jude. This year's three-day event, held Feb. 29 through March 2, added yet another $5.4 million to the pot.

Warburton and his wife, Cathy Jennings, whom he met in college, have four children and live in Santa Rosa Valley. Their hearts are steeped in helping the kids at St. Jude's, a place that families and young people with life threatening challenges call home. It's also a place where no one is charged for the care and treatment they receive, no matter how long it takes.

St. Jude is a place where hope is the focus of those who work there, and for that reason donations are paramount to the ongoing success of their treatments and trials. No child should ever have to suffer, and every child deserves the chance to survive.

Raising money takes a village of volunteers and an extraordinary board who works throughout the year to make the three days a success.

Over the years, The Warburton golf tournament has grown to include one-of-a-kind music events, like Songwriters' Night. Held Feb. 29, this festival featured songwriters from Nashville who not only sang but told the stories behind some of their greatest hits. This year's lineup included Eric Paslay, Wynn Varble, Brett James, Rivers Rutherford and Tim Nichols, writers who have penned hits for Brad Paisley, Martina McBride, Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw and others.

On March 1, approximately 500 golfers played the day away, while keeping the action high in the evening with the Rheneypalooza, a four-plus hour concert that featured hits by rock and roll legends and hall-of-famers accompanied by house band Sixwire, made up of some of the best studio musicians in Nashville.

Performers included Al Paris, Alice Cooper, Don Felder, Kevin Cronin, Mike Mills and more.

And if that wasn't enough excitement, after a second day of golf, celebrities and guests sat down for The Soirée, a red carpet gala in the ballroom at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa that featured extraordinary food and generosity. Attendees had the opportunity to bid on more than 350 silent auction items and 12 live auction packages as well as contribute to the raise-the-paddle "Give to Live" portion of the evening.

A welcome was given by Warburton and Rheney and then members of the board joined them on stage to tumultuous applause. Speeches about what it means to help children were accompanied by slide shows showing survivors, and there were plenty of feel-good "thank you moments."

The golf tournament itself drew celebrities such as Christopher McDonald, Richard Kind, Oliver Hudson, Richard Karn, Mark Moses, Andy Buckley, Bruce Thomas, Charles Esten, Linda Thompson, Kim Alexis, Dr. Paul Nassif, Brian Urlacher, Sterling Sharpe, Steve Garvey, Brad Penny and Kurt Bevacqua.

The overall childhood cancer survival rate has risen from 20% to more than 80% since St. Jude opened its doors 60 years ago, and the treatments invented there are used worldwide, allowing doctors and scientists to adapt their protocols to save thousands more children. St Jude will not stop until no child dies from cancer. This mission is aided greatly by people with big hearts like Warburton, Rheney, their fans and friends and their amazing volunteer board, which includes Tad Black, Andrea Carter, Andy Childs, Jaci Fitzsimonds, Jeff Grady, David Herrera, Andy Kerr, KC Kinsey, Odette Lambaren, Joseph Romano, Greg Rubino, Mariann Sall, Danielle Scardino and Barb Smith, many of whom are Coachella Valley residents.

The next Warburton will take place March 6-9, 2025. For more information about how to donate, volunteer, play or attend, visit thewarburton.com.

Carole Stephen-Smith began writing in Scotland for a woman's weekly at the age of 15 and then covered American celebrities for the London Evening Echo. Arriving in the desert, she wrote for Desert Woman in the 1990s. Carole focuses on charities that help women as well as medical causes, especially breast cancer awareness, and all aspects of child abuse.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Warburton raises record-breaking amount for St. Jude