PHOENIX, Md. — A local restaurant owner is continuing years of giving back by launching a charity in his father's memory.
Casey Brooks, owner of Phoenix's Brookside Market, is creating the 'Heart of Gold Foundation,' meant to help local people in need and local charitable causes.
Casey lost his father, Bobby, during the pandemic.
"We never got to honor him with a burial," Brooks recalled. "Multiple people came in to tell me stories. But one that stood out to me was, multiple people said he had a gold heart. He had a heart of gold."
Casey and his father had discussed creating their own foundation, he told WMAR. For the last 14 years, the Brookses have helped local causes with a golf tournament, which Casey is continuing.
The foundation launches at Eagles Nest Country Club in Phoenix on Thursday, September 26 at 6pm, during which funds will be raised for a local family battling cancer.
"The Ravens are sending us things," Brooks added. "Every small business around here, 'Yes, what else can we do.'"
The golf outing is scheduled for this Friday, September 27 at Winters Run Golf Club in Bel Air.
The foundation is accepting website donations and will also be supported through auctions, including a Gunnar Henderson painting print prominently displayed at the front of the restaurant.
"This has been a conversation with my father and I for at least a decade, decade and a half, about creating our own foundation while he was living. So in honor to him, we made it happen finally after 15 years," Brooks said.
