An annual golf tournament on Friday aims to raise money for programs that support those who have been diagnosed with diabetes.

The 13th annual Swing for a Cure golf tournament, which is put on by the Trinity Diabetes Center at UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center, has raised nearly $150,000 over the past four years, according to Jessica Smith, supervisor of the diabetes center and wellness service at UnityPoint.

“The money stays in our community and impacts care of community members with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes,” she said.

The biggest recipient of the funds raised by the golf tournament is tuition to Camp Hertko Hollow, a camp in Des Moines designed for children who have been diagnosed with diabetes.

“In 2017, we had nine children,” Smith said. “This year there are six children and a couple going as a family.”

In fact, this year’s guest speaker at the golf tournament is Dr. Edward Hertko, who founded Camp Hertko Hollow.

“He’ll talk about how it benefits the kids and how they do at camp,” Smith said.

Another program funded by the donations is a pre-diabetes education class.

This class, according to Smith, works to try and prevent diabetes from occurring.

“Diabetes ranks as the seventh-leading cause of death in the nation, and we’re trying to prevent it,” she said.

Earlier this week, Smith said the program was fully recognized by the federal Centers for Disease Control.

This program has been successful, and during the first group, participants lost an average of 22 pounds per person.

Two more classes have already started.

The golf tournament also raises money to send staff at the diabetes center to training so they can keep up to date on the latest technology.

Smith said anyone can participate in the tournament. It’s $100 for an individual entry and $400 for a team entry. The fee includes golf and a cart.

It begins at noon Friday with a shotgun start at the Fort Dodge Country Club.

Hy-Vee will be providing lunch and Domino’s will be providing dinner.

There will also be raffle tickets as well as $10,000 hole-in-one sponsored by Kingsgate Insurance.

Smith said there’s also a $500 par three that’s sponsored by Ja-Mar Drive-In.

“It’s a fun time,” she said. “We always have a great time and a lot of awesome volunteers.”

Register online at unitypoint.org/swingforacure or by calling 574-6350.