Westfield High grad Erin Peterson was an18-year-old honor student, with her whole life ahead of her, when she and 31 others died in the April 16, 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech. Although filled with grief at the loss of their only child, her parents, Celeste and Grafton Peterson, established the Erin Peterson Fund to continue their daughter’s dedication to education and to helping the less fortunate.

This year, the Fund has supported food banks, provided grocery-store gift cards to students and awarded $6,500 in college scholarships. The money to do all these things comes from the Erin Peterson Fund Golf Tournament, and this year’s event – the 13th annual – is slated for next Thursday, Sept. 24, at the Westfields Golf Club, 13940 Balmoral Greens Ave. in Clifton.

Registration is still open; go to https://www.erinpetersonfund.org/ and click on Golf Registration. Pay by credit card or mail a check to: Erin Peterson Fund, P.O. Box 232170, Centreville, VA 20120. To reduce contact, participants are encouraged to purchase their raffle tickets and mulligans online and pick them up that day at the check-in table.

“In the midst of a world crisis, with donations down, the need to help others has not changed, nor has The Erin Peterson Fund’s willingness to do so,” said Celeste Peterson. “That’s why the community’s support is so greatly needed now, more than ever.”

For questions or more information, email erinpetersonfund@yahoo.com.