Ranch & Coast Magazine

October 2022

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"My mother was a nurse for 40 years. Her career spanned the ICU, OR, ER, home healthcare, hospice — every aspect of being a nurse. Helping people was just in her nature," says Neilsen, still becoming emotional eight years later. "When she got sick, she went into the hospital thinking she had kidney stones. She'd been misdiagnosed twice. e first thing out of her mouth when she told me about her diagnosis was to ask if I was okay. at's just how she was." Armstrong's motto was "Live each day to improve the life of somebody else," and following his mother's pass- ing, Neilsen vowed to honor her memory by giving back to other families affected by cancer. An avid golfer, he began by hosting a series of charity golf events in Orange County where he and his wife lived at the time. Shortly before the pandemic, they moved to San Diego, where Neilsen has continued his work on more formal footing. "e pandemic had a powerful effect on me, and I began thinking about what I could do to make even more of an impact," he says. In January of 2021, he officially founded Becky's Way and partnered with Rady Children's Hospital to support the nonprofit hospital's work pro- viding care to all who need it. "My little brother had a lot of medical issues as a kid," he says. "We used Ronald McDonald House quite a bit, so Rady's' underfunded patient families program was a great fit. ey don't turn down anyone." Neilsen served six years in the Army National Guard, and coming to San Diego, he also wanted to support the military community. Becky's Way works with a vast array of military and veteran organizations throughout San Diego, including Veterans Employment, which is sponsoring golf for 50 veterans at this year's event. "Whether it's résumé building, making an introduction, sometimes just providing an outlet, we want to do a better job for our veterans," says Neilsen. Taking place at Twin Oaks Golf Course on October 13, Swing Fore Rady Children's Hospital falls on a very special day in the nation's history — the Navy's birthday — and there will be lots of birthday cake, as well as a color guard, military-themed outfits, and veteran celebrations. "Our goal is to make the event as enjoyable as possible," says Neilsen. "We want to build ongoing relationships. If these are things you want to support, we want to keep that going. And in return, we offer an extensive network of veterans, vet- eran-owned businesses, and businesses that work with veter- ans in a range of fields. I want to bring these people together to do even more. at's what Becky's Way is all about." e festivities will include a shotgun start tourna- ment with surprises, dinner, a silent auction, and both first- and last-place awards. Becky's Way even offers a Charity Challenge to help businesses find the money to get involved. 714.686.6879, eric@beckysway.org, birdease. com/beckysway BILL ABRAMS << COURTESY PHOTO @ranchandcoast ranchandcoast.com 62 OCTOBER 2022 RANCH & COAST MAGAZINE Participants at a prior Swing Fore Rady Children's Hospital - San Diego charity golf tournament to benefit Becky's Way Focus philanthropy

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