Ashten's Compassion Golf Tournament Backs Goal of 150 Kids Shopping This Christmas

Ashten's Compassion held its fourth annual golf tournament at Stone Creek Golf Club in Sherman, filling a field of 32 teams, according to a post on the nonprofit's Facebook page. The tournament raises money for Shop with a Cop, a program the group says will take 150 children shopping for Christmas later this year.

In posts seeking sponsors ahead of the tournament, Ashten's Compassion described the event as a fundraiser for Shop with a Cop and said the 150-child figure is this year's goal for the shopping trips. The organization has not published a fundraising total from this year's tournament or named which police departments will take part in the shopping event.

The tournament has grown since it began. Ashten's Compassion's website lists the first annual tournament as having taken place Aug. 19, 2023, with 116 golfers and 40 sponsors participating. This year's 32-team field marks the fourth time the group has run the tournament as its fundraiser for the Shop with a Cop program.

Ashten's Compassion is registered as a Texas nonprofit corporation and holds federal tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, according to a page on the group's website describing its 2024 second annual golf classic. That page said proceeds from the 2024 tournament supported Ashten's Compassion projects in Grayson County.

Shop with a Cop, the program the tournament funds, has drawn on law enforcement beyond one department. The Southmayd Police Department said in a Facebook post that it partnered with Ashten's Compassion in a past year to take 100 children Christmas shopping. That statement points to the program running as a partnership involving more than one police department in the Texoma area, rather than a single city's effort.

The record reviewed for this report does not identify which children or communities will be represented among the 150 kids Ashten's Compassion hopes to take shopping this year, and it does not include a fundraising total from this year's golf tournament. Area law enforcement agencies have taken part in Shop with a Cop events in prior years, though the materials available do not specify which departments are involved in this year's shopping trips.

Ashten's Compassion has directed people interested in donating or volunteering to its website and social media pages for further information.