11th Annual CCDH Poker Tournament Wrap-Up

On Super Bowl Sunday, Congregation Bet Shira hosted the 11th annual CCDH Poker Tournament. The event, run by the Morrison brothers (Brian, 16 and Jay, 14) and Jared Heller (age 17) raised money for CCDH, Miami-Dade County's leading agency to plan, provide, coordinate, and arrange services for individuals with disabilities and their families.

Over 100 volunteers and players participated in the Texas Hold ‘Em tournament. Besides raising funds for CCDH, the event has become tradition for the local community to socialize and catch up. In addition, all players and volunteers received 4 hours of community service credit.

After nearly five hours, the field of players narrowed to a single table. In the end, Gulliver Academy 8th-grader Scott Hellinger was the big winner. Scott explained, “The kids who run the event are my friends, so I go to support them and to help the cause. In addition to the entry fee, my family made an additional donation to CCDH, so that felt really good.” Scott won a flat-screen TV.

All the food and drink was donated for the day’s event and other raffle prizes were donated by Best Buy Suniland, House of Bagels, Wagons West, Lots of Lox, Anacapri, Kings Bay Athletics, Sushi Rock, M Cycle, Modern Nails, Jaguar Restaurant, Wayside Market, Trader Joe’s, Sushi Maki, Lan Pan, and Joanna’s Marketplace.

More than $4000 was raised, with checks still coming in. If you'd like to donate, please contact Brian & Jay Morrison at 305-613-2069 or Jared Heller at 305-484-8831. You can also email pokertournament4charity@gmail.com