For 24 years, Port Elgin Rotary Club has hosted the Jeff Preston Celebrity Golf Tournament fundraiser in support of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (MD) research.

Next year, 2020, was to be the 25th anniversary but the tournament has apparently come to an end.

In a media release, Rotary President Steven Dennison said that, “With Jeff Preston’s and his family’s blessing, we would like to thank our community for 24 years of amazing support. Together we helped raise $1,500,000 for MD research with our annual Celebrity golf tournament every July. From the golfers to the sponsors to the volunteers who came out year after year, we thank you. This was a local effort to try and tackle a global problem.”
He went on to say that Jeff was, in fact, the Easter Seals poster child when the tournament began. “He was famous in his own right.”
Today, Preston is a professor at the University of Western Ontario in London, holds a PhD in Media Relations and is married.
For many years, Preston has been an advocate for those with disabilities. In May, 2008, he set out on a 47-day trek in his wheelchair from London to Ottawa to bring attention to the lack of government support when it comes to transportation for those in a similar situation to his.
He has also become a motivational speaker and is on the Chair of the Board of Directors with Jesse’s Journey.

In a statement by Jeff Preston, he says that, “While our tournament has come to an end, I am proud to now continue the fight against DMD with Jesse’s Journey, the biggest DMD-specific research charity, as the current chair of the board of directors”.
A look back