Press Release
The Long Home Golf Classic and Bo’s Effort are transforming mental health awareness into a community movement built on compassion, healing, education, and support for families facing mental health challenges...
More Than a Golf Tournament: How Bo’s Effort and the Long Home Golf Classic Are Turning Community, Compassion, and Mental Health Awareness Into a Movement That Changes Lives
Power100 - Long Home
May 26, 2026 | 4 min Read
Greg Cummings of Power100 joined Lynne Zink at the Long Home Golf Classic Bo’s Effort fundraiser, where the Bo’s Effort mental health awareness charity event brought the community together to break stigma, support families, fund scholarships, and raise hope for mental health care.
Bo’s Effort was founded in 2015 by John, Jill, Katie, and Johnny DePaola in honor of their son and brother, Bo DePaola, who passed away at age 20 after facing the challenges of bipolar disorder. What began as a family’s deep loss has grown into a mission to break the stigma of mental illness, help families feel less alone, and support people who need care, hope, and understanding. Through the annual Long Home Golf Classic Bo’s Effort fundraiser, the family continues to turn Bo’s story into a strong call for mental health awareness, open talks, education, and real help for families who are walking through hard seasons.
Greg Cummings, CEO of Power100, was honored to attend the Long Home Golf Classic in Maryland, where more than 300 people came together to support the Bo’s Effort mental health awareness charity event. Power100 is the only unbiased third-party platform that recognizes and elevates the top leaders and most impactful companies in the home improvement industry. For Power100, the day was more than a chance to attend a charity golf tournament. It was a chance to stand with a family, a cause, and a community that is using love, courage, and action to help more people understand mental illness and support the families affected by it.
A Community Gathering Built Around Hope, Healing, and Mental Health Awareness
The Long Home Golf Classic is not just a golf event. It is a day built around people, purpose, and the belief that mental health should never be hidden in silence. Through Bo’s Effort, the DePaola family has created a place where Bo’s story can keep helping others. His life, his struggles, and his family’s love now help open the door for hard but needed talks about mental illness.
Bo’s Effort was founded in 2015 by John, Jill, Katie, and Johnny DePaola in honor of their son and brother, Bo DePaola, who passed away at age 20 after facing the challenges of bipolar disorder. What began as a family’s deep loss has grown into a mission to break the stigma of mental illness, help families feel less alone, and support people who need care, hope, and understanding. Through the annual Long Home Golf Classic Bo’s Effort fundraiser, the family continues to turn Bo’s story into a strong call for mental health awareness, open talks, education, and real help for families who are walking through hard seasons.
Greg Cummings, CEO of Power100, was honored to attend the Long Home Golf Classic in Maryland, where more than 300 people came together to support the Bo’s Effort mental health awareness charity event. Power100 is the only unbiased third-party platform that recognizes and elevates the top leaders and most impactful companies in the home improvement industry. For Power100, the day was more than a chance to attend a charity golf tournament. It was a chance to stand with a family, a cause, and a community that is using love, courage, and action to help more people understand mental illness and support the families affected by it.
A Community Gathering Built Around Hope, Healing, and Mental Health Awareness
The Long Home Golf Classic is not just a golf event. It is a day built around people, purpose, and the belief that mental health should never be hidden in silence. Through Bo’s Effort, the DePaola family has created a place where Bo’s story can keep helping others. His life, his struggles, and his family’s love now help open the door for hard but needed talks about mental illness.
At the event, Greg Cummings spoke with Lynne Zink, who served as the auctioneer. Her role was important because the auction helped raise money for a cause that touches many families.
But her message went deeper than dollars. When Greg asked how much money she hoped to raise, Lynne said, “I always say that I’m going to get every last dollar that’s in the room.”
That line showed the heart of the day. Every gift mattered because every gift could help another person, another child, another parent, or another family find support.
Lynne also made it clear that mental illness affects more than the person who is struggling. It affects the whole family. After reading Bo’s story, she saw the pain, care, and love that families carry when someone they love is facing mental health challenges. “We’re raising money to help even more people who didn’t have the resources before,” said Lynne Zink. She also shared that the mission helps families learn how to deal with these struggles and help build a better quality of life for their children or loved ones.
That message sits at the heart of Bo’s Effort. The charity is focused on breaking the stigma of mental illness through awareness, education, and compassion. It also supports real programs that create long term change. Bo’s Effort provides mental health related scholarships through Scholarships for Scholars and supports the LHAAMC Nursing Scholarship Fund through Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center. In 2025, Bo’s Effort presented Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center’s Elizabeth Gross with a $100,000 check toward pediatric mental health.
The Scholarships for Scholars program also helps local high school seniors who have been touched by mental illness or who want to work in the mental health field. These scholarships help students pay for tuition, books, fees, technical tools, and room and board. This gives the Long Home Golf Classic a deeper meaning. It is not only raising money for today. It is helping build the next wave of people who may one day care for others, guide families, and serve the mental health field with heart.
For Greg Cummings and Power100, the rapid fire interview with Lynne Zink captured the true spirit of the event. It showed how one auctioneer, one family, one story, and one community can help move a mission forward. Greg said it best when he shared that when tragedy strikes a family, there is a choice to do something about it. At the Long Home Golf Classic, that choice was clear. Bo’s Effort is choosing hope. The community is choosing action. And together, they are helping more families feel seen, heard, and supported.
Conversations at the Long Home Golf Classic Showed How Pain Can Become Purpose
As guests moved throughout the Long Home Golf Classic Bo’s Effort fundraiser, the conversations happening around the event carried a deeper meaning than the tournament itself. During the rapid fire interview with Lynne Zink, Greg Cummings helped uncover the emotional heart behind the Bo’s Effort mental health awareness charity event. The discussion was not only about fundraising. It was about families, healing, compassion, and the importance of creating a community where people facing mental health struggles no longer feel alone.
Throughout the day, one message became clear. Bo’s Effort has become more than a nonprofit organization. It has become a movement built around turning personal pain into support for others.
A Family’s Loss Became a Mission That Now Helps Other Families Heal
At the center of the Long Home Golf Classic is the story of Bo DePaola and the mission his family created after losing him to bipolar disorder at age 20. What could have remained a private tragedy instead became a public mission focused on mental health awareness, education, and support for families facing similar struggles.
During the conversation, Greg reflected on how families often face an important choice after tragedy. They can stay silent or choose to create change that helps others. That message could be felt throughout the entire Maryland charity golf tournament for mental health awareness. Every sponsor, attendee, volunteer, and supporter represented people choosing to stand behind a mission bigger than themselves.
The event showed how grief can slowly turn into action. Through Bo’s Effort, the DePaola family continues helping people understand that mental illness should not be hidden behind shame or fear. Their work is creating conversations that many families have struggled to begin for years.
The Long Home Golf Classic community fundraising event also showed how leaders across the home improvement industry are stepping beyond business and becoming part of causes that strengthen families and communities. Contractors, business owners, partners, and supporters gathered not just to attend an event, but to help support mental wellness and community healing.
Honest Conversations Help Remove the Shame Around Mental Illness
One of the strongest moments from Lynne Zink’s rapid fire interview came when she spoke about reading Bo’s story and understanding how deeply mental illness affects entire families.
“What it means to me is when I’ve read Bo’s story and I see what the family went through,” said Lynne Zink. “We’re raising money to help even more people who didn’t have the resources before.”
Her words reflected one of the biggest themes of the Bo’s Effort Golf Tournament supporting mental health awareness. The event created a place where mental health conversations were approached with compassion, honesty, and understanding instead of silence.
For many families, mental illness can feel lonely. Parents often carry fear, confusion, and emotional exhaustion while trying to help their children or loved ones. Bo’s Effort continues working to break that isolation by helping people feel seen and understood.
Lynne also explained that support should extend beyond the person facing mental illness. Families need guidance, education, and emotional support as well. That focus has become a major part of Bo’s Effort’s mission and why the organization continues connecting communities through awareness and education.
The Long Home Golf Classic showed how community events can become safe spaces for important conversations that many people are afraid to have openly. It also reflected a growing shift across the home improvement industry where leaders are beginning to place greater value on emotional wellness, compassion, and people centered leadership.
Learn more about the Long Home Golf Classic community fundraising event at Bo’s Effort Events
Every Dollar Raised Is Helping Build Real Mental Health Support Systems
As auctioneer for the event, Lynne Zink played an important role in helping turn generosity into meaningful action. When Greg asked how much money she hoped to raise, she answered with energy and confidence.
“I always say that I’m going to get every last dollar that’s in the room.”
The moment brought humor and excitement to the conversation, but it also reflected the deeper purpose behind the Bo’s Effort mental health awareness charity event. Every donation represented another step toward helping families access support, education, and mental health resources.
Bo’s Effort continues creating long term impact through programs that directly support education and healthcare. One of the organization’s most important efforts is its support of the LHAAMC Nursing Scholarship Fund through Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center. In 2025, the organization presented a $100,000 check toward pediatric mental health support.
The organization also continues supporting Scholarships for Scholars, a program that helps local students who either want to work in the mental health field or who have personally experienced the impact of mental illness in their lives.
The Long Home Golf Classic fundraiser showed how industry driven charity events can create lasting social impact far beyond a single day. The home improvement community is helping fund future nurses, healthcare workers, mental health advocates, and students who may one day help families facing similar struggles.
Families Carry Emotional Weight That Many People Never See
As the conversation continued, Lynne returned to a message that stayed present throughout the event. Mental illness affects entire families, not just the individual facing the diagnosis.
She spoke about helping families learn how to deal with mental health struggles while improving the quality of life for their loved ones. That message connected deeply to Bo’s own story and the experiences his family faced while trying to support him through difficult mental health challenges.
The Bo DePaola mental health awareness foundation continues working to bridge the emotional gap many families experience during these moments. Through education, awareness, and community support, the organization helps families realize they are not facing these challenges alone.
The event also reflected a larger shift happening within the home improvement industry itself. More leaders are recognizing that stronger businesses are built through stronger communities, healthier families, and compassion driven leadership. The Long Home Golf Classic became an example of how people within the industry are using their influence to support causes that create real human impact.
Education Is Becoming One of the Strongest Tools for Long Term Change
Throughout the Bo’s Effort fundraiser, another important message became clear. Real change happens when awareness is matched with education and opportunity.
Education continues to sit at the center of Bo’s Effort’s mission. Through Scholarships for Scholars, students pursuing careers in mental health or students personally impacted by mental illness receive support that helps them continue their education and future goals.
At the same time, the organization’s work with Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center helps healthcare professionals continue advancing mental health care and pediatric support systems that many communities urgently need.
These programs show that the Long Home Golf Classic is helping create long term solutions, not just temporary awareness. The event is helping support future counselors, nurses, healthcare workers, and mental health advocates who may eventually serve families walking through similar challenges.
The home improvement industry’s involvement in causes like this also reflects how business communities can help shape stronger futures beyond construction, remodeling, and service work. Events like the Bo’s Effort Golf Tournament supporting mental health awareness show how leadership can extend into education, healthcare, and community development.
Learn more about the programs supported through the Bo’s Effort fundraiser at Bo’s Effort Programs
The Long Home Golf Classic Became a Reminder That Nobody Should Face Mental Illness Alone
By the end of the event, the atmosphere around the Long Home Golf Classic felt bigger than a charity tournament. More than 300 people had gathered around a mission centered on compassion, healing, and support.
The conversations happening throughout the day reflected the power of community showing up for families facing difficult situations. Greg’s presence and discussions with attendees reinforced the importance of standing behind causes that bring people together around care and understanding.
During the rapid fire interview, Greg shared that when tragedy strikes a family, there is a choice to either remain still or do something meaningful that helps others. That message became one of the strongest emotional takeaways from the event.
The Long Home Golf Classic community fundraising event showed that connection itself can become part of the healing process. Families, leaders, supporters, sponsors, and volunteers all played a role in creating a space where people could openly support mental health awareness without fear or shame.
The event also reflected a growing change within the home improvement industry where relationships, compassion, and service are becoming just as important as business growth itself. Leaders are increasingly using their platforms to support communities, bring people together, and create lasting human impact.
A Reminder That Real Leadership Begins With People
As the Long Home Golf Classic came to a close, the lasting impact of the day could be felt far beyond the golf course. What took place at the Bo’s Effort mental health awareness charity event was not simply a fundraiser or community gathering. It was a reminder of what can happen when people choose compassion, connection, and purpose in the face of pain.
The courage of the DePaola family continues to inspire everyone connected to Bo’s Effort. By openly sharing Bo’s story, they have helped create conversations that many families have struggled to begin for years. Their willingness to turn loss into action is helping others find support, education, and hope during some of life’s hardest moments.
Throughout the Long Home Golf Classic community fundraising event, the message remained clear. Mental health awareness matters because people matter. Families matter. And no one should feel ashamed or isolated while facing mental health challenges.
The event also showed the power of a community coming together with one shared purpose. Sponsors, attendees, volunteers, industry leaders, and advocates all helped create an environment centered on care, understanding, and support. Conversations throughout the day reflected a growing belief that healing often begins when people feel heard, valued, and surrounded by others willing to stand beside them.
The impact of the event will continue long after the final auction item and final golf round. Through programs like Scholarships for Scholars and the support provided to the LHAAMC Nursing Scholarship Fund through Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center, Bo’s Effort is helping create long term change that reaches students, healthcare workers, families, and future mental health advocates.
The Long Home Golf Classic is proof that community events can become something much greater than annual traditions. They can become movements that help break stigma, create opportunity, and build support systems for people who need them most.
Through Bo’s Effort, the memory of Bo DePaola continues creating awareness, compassion, education, and hope for countless families and communities.
And through conversations led by people like Lynne Zink and Greg Cummings, one message continued to rise above everything else:
No family should ever have to face mental illness alone.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why does Power100 spend time covering community events like the Bo’s Effort mental health awareness charity event instead of only focusing on business growth?
Power100 believes leadership is bigger than revenue and rankings. The platform highlights leaders, companies, and events that create real impact inside and outside the home improvement industry. Events like the Long Home Golf Classic show how business communities can help families, support important causes, and strengthen communities through compassion and action.
- How does Power100 decide which organizations, leaders, and community initiatives deserve visibility on its platform?
Power100 focuses on leadership, culture, innovation, growth, customer experience, and community impact. The platform was created to give visibility to people and organizations working to improve the industry while helping homeowners and communities in meaningful ways. Bo’s Effort aligns with those values through its work in mental health awareness, education, scholarships, and family support.
- What is the purpose of the Long Home Golf Classic Bo’s Effort fundraiser?
The Long Home Golf Classic was created to support Bo’s Effort and help break the stigma surrounding mental illness. The event raises funds for mental health awareness programs, scholarships, pediatric mental health support, and resources that help families facing mental health challenges.
- Why is Bo’s Effort focused on helping families and not only individuals struggling with mental illness?
Bo’s Effort recognizes that mental illness affects entire families. Parents, siblings, and loved ones often carry emotional stress, confusion, and fear while trying to support someone they care about. The organization works to bring awareness, education, and support to both individuals and families so they feel less isolated during difficult times.
- How does the Bo’s Effort Golf Tournament supporting mental health awareness create long term impact beyond the event itself?
The Long Home Golf Classic helps fund long term programs that continue helping communities throughout the year. This includes Scholarships for Scholars, support for the LHAAMC Nursing Scholarship Fund, and pediatric mental health initiatives through Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center.
- What scholarships and programs are supported through Bo’s Effort?
Bo’s Effort supports Scholarships for Scholars, which helps students impacted by mental illness or students pursuing careers in the mental health field. The organization also supports the LHAAMC Nursing Scholarship Fund through Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center to help healthcare workers continue advancing mental health and pediatric care.
- Why was Lynne Zink’s role as auctioneer important during the Bo’s Effort mental health awareness charity event?
Lynne Zink helped lead the fundraising efforts during the event while also bringing attention to the emotional purpose behind the mission. Her conversation with Greg Cummings highlighted how mental health affects both individuals and families, helping attendees better understand why the event matters to so many people.
- Why are community events like the Long Home Golf Classic becoming important within the home improvement industry?
Events like the Maryland charity golf tournament for mental health awareness show how the home improvement industry is becoming more community focused and relationship driven. Leaders, contractors, and partners are increasingly using their platforms to support causes that improve lives, strengthen families, and create long term community impact.
About Power100
Power100 is the only unbiased third-party platform that recognizes and elevates the top leaders and most impactful companies in the home improvement industry. Through industry interviews, leadership conversations, company spotlights, event coverage, and community driven storytelling, Power100 helps bring visibility to the people and organizations shaping the future of the industry. The platform exists to support contractors, business leaders, partners, and innovators who are creating meaningful impact through leadership, service, culture, innovation, and community involvement. Learn more through the Power100 Website, follow Greg Cummings, watch conversations on the Power100 YouTube Channel, and explore more industry insights through the Power100 platform.