HAVERILL, Mass.—
The Second Annual Green Goddess Golf Invitational, hosted and organized by the Massachusetts cannabis retailer Stem of Haverhill, attracted 450 participants and raised $16,000 for Patriots Helping Vets, a Massachusetts non-profit that focuses on helping veterans heal through horticultural therapy and promoting veterans’ rights to cultivate medicinal plants.
“I am so thrilled with the turnout and the sponsors and everyone else who stepped forward to make this event so special and meaningful, particularly for the money raised to help a truly wonderful organization that works day in and day out on behalf of veterans throughout the nation,” Stem owner and economic empowerment operator Caroline Pineau said. “This event showed, once again, that the cannabis industry—and in particular women cannabis entrepreneurs—are at the forefront of business social awareness and responsibility.”
The Green Goddess Invitational (GGI) is a unique and original event that promotes, celebrates and assists women operating in the traditional male-dominated fields of the cannabis industry and golf. This year’s tournament, held at the Renaissance Golf Club in Haverhill on September 11, attracted more than 90 sponsors along with 450 participants.
Tom Rand, founder of Patriot Helping Veterans and a Marine combat veteran, thanked Pineau, her husband, Adam, and the Stem team for “making a huge difference in our veterans’ lives.”
“With the outpouring of support from this incredible event, Patriots Helping Vets will finally fill all of our requests for equipment and start helping more brothers and sisters that have been idling. We can’t thank the community enough for what they did,” Rand said.
The event featured branded Sativa foursomes and Indica foursomes, golf clinics with WPGA pro Catherine McPherson and the Renaissance pro staff, yoga, spa treatments, reiki, collective art and painting projects, cannabis education workshops with guest speakers, live music, a DJ and a flower send-off.
There was also a panel discussion titled Cannabis Policy: The Good, and Bad and the Ugly, which touched on topics including federal rescheduling of cannabis, people still incarcerated for cannabis offenses, and the state of host community agreements in Massachusetts.
Pineau said the event hit a hole in one for each of its focus areas: Women playing and learning golf, supporting Patriots Helping Vets, and supporting women in traditionally male-dominated field like golf and cannabis.
“I could not be more pleased with the turnout and the enthusiasm and the commitment to great causes that was so evident every moment of this event. It was a lot of work and it all came together into a wonderful day for all involved,” Pineau said.
