A Balmy Evening, Golf Greens, and Giving Back

At the San Gabriel Country Club on Monday evening, more than 200 guests traded nine-irons for margaritas as Five Acres hosted its 37th annual fundraising golf tournament and benefit. On a fairway set for dinner beneath a golden late-summer sky, club members and supporters tucked into plates of tri-tip, baked fish, and chicken mole, while a mariachi band filled the night with music as lively as the bidding.

The evening’s proceeds went to Five Acres, one of Los Angeles’ oldest children’s charities, which began in 1888 as a downtown orphanage, and has since grown into a sprawling agency serving more than 6,500 children and families across six counties. The organization today focuses on safety, well-being and permanency—working to place children in stable, loving homes while offering family-strengthening and mental health services.

Rachel Duarte Mosaquites, who co-chaired the event with her husband Nick, called the tournament both “special” and timely, arriving in a year marked by tragedy for the organization’s extended community. “It’s a pleasant surprise to see how many people rally for this event,” Nick said. “I’ve been to many golf tournaments over the years, and this one is as vibrant during the day on the golf course as it is at night.”

For the couple, the work is personal not through direct experience, but through service. “We don’t have a personal connection, but we do have a volunteer connection and a love for the organization,” Rachel said. “The opportunity to provide funds for permanency and housing for children is very meaningful.”

Nick also pointed out that it was significant that the evening coincided with the beginning of LatinX Heritage Month, as more than 60 percent of the families served are Hispanic.

If the dinner was convivial, the auction was downright electric. A fast-talking auctioneer coaxed guests into spirited bidding wars for prizes ranging from Los Angeles Rams tickets to a New Year’s Day parade-and-game package, as well as vacations in Puerto Vallarta and the wide-open Wyoming plains.

It was also, as Rachel reminded guests, a milestone year for the charity. While Five Acres marks its 137th anniversary, it is also celebrating 100 years at its Altadena campus—an address as firmly rooted in Southern California as the sprawling oaks surrounding the country club’s greens.

As plates were cleared and dance music closed out the evening, the cause was clear: continuing to ensure that children who once might have fallen through the cracks of the foster system instead find safety, stability, and permanence.

For more information about Five Acres and their programs visit www.5acres.org or call (626) 798-6793.