At just 19 and finishing freshman year of college, most children have their whole life ahead of them.

That all changed when Kameron Belew was killed in a car accident almost 10 years ago.

It is hard for most parents to imagine losing a son, let alone a son who was as young as Kameron, just 19 years old.

After Kameron’s death, a lot of people donated money to the family to help. With that money the Belew family decided to start something to help other kids in honor of Kameron.

With the money the Belew family received, they started hosting a golf outing in Kameron’s name in order to raise money to help fund area kids’ education.

“Education is important and if we can help kids fund it who cannot fund it themselves, we are happy to do it,” said June Belew, Kameron’s mother.

This year marks the ninth year of the golf outing. The event will be hosted beginning at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 6 at Spruce Ridge Golf Course, located at 26831 Dutch Settlement in Dowagiac. Registration is at 8:30 a.m. and tee off is at 9 a.m. The cost is $60 per person or $240 per team. It includes golf fees for 18 holes and cart, a four-person scramble and lunch.

Over the past nine years, 79 area students have received support from the Kameron Belew Memorial Scholarships. These scholarships have made it possible for kids to attend colleges, both undergraduate and graduate programs, camps, trade schools and police academies.

“I think it is important because a lot of students, especially a lot of area students, have a lot of trouble funding their college,” Belew said. “So when my son passed, a lot of people donated money in lieu of flowers so we decided to take the money from that and put it to good use, and we thought the best way we could do that was helping some area kids go to school.”

Advanced golfing skill is not required to attend this community event.

“Anyone can participate. Anyone who golfs — you don’t even have to be a great golfer. There are some competitive teams but there are also teams who just come out to support the event,” Belew said. “They just have to have $60 and show up!”