LOS ANGELES – The nonprofit group Legacy Ladies Inc. raised more than $100,000 at its 5th annual charity golf tournament last month as part of its ongoing initiative to boost the number of Black doctors in the U.S.
The tournament, held at Porter Valley Country Club in Northridge, raises money each year to support students attending Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, a leader in training and empowering underrepresented students in medicine.
Money goes to raise awareness about the shortage of Black physicians in the U.S., to help build a more diverse healthcare workforce, and to encourage future medical students to pursue their dream of becoming a doctor, organizers said.
Although Black Americans make up about 15 percent of the U.S. population, they comprise less than six percent of the nation’s physicians, according to the National Institute of Health.
Through events like the golf tournament, Legacy Ladies hopes to ensure that financial barriers don’t inhibit African American students from studying medicine, said the group’s president Jacqueline Castillo.
Such events “help us invest in talented students who will one day care for our families and communities,” Castillo said. “This will ensure a pipeline of African American physicians to address health disparities.”
A highlight of the tournament was awarding a $10,000 scholarship to local resident Michaela Hooper, a graduate from King Drew Magnet High School who will study medicine at Howard University this fall.
