How Long Home, Bo’s Effort, and community leaders are turning a charity golf tournament into a growing movement for mental health awareness, emotional wellness, and lasting community impact...
The Long Home Golf Classic and Bo’s Effort are helping break the stigma around mental illness through community support, mental health awareness programs, scholarships, and leadership advocacy. Discover how Bo’s Effort is transforming mental wellness conversations across Maryland and the home improvement industry.
For nearly a decade, the Long Home Golf Classic has grown into far more than a charity golf tournament in Maryland. What started as a way to honor the life of Bo DePaola has become one of the most meaningful community driven mental health awareness events bringing together families, business leaders, sponsors, volunteers, and supporters united around one shared mission: breaking the stigma around mental illness through awareness, education, compassion, and conversation.
Founded by John, Jill, Katie, and Johnny DePaola after the heartbreaking loss of their son and brother Bo DePaola, Bo’s Effort continues to help families openly talk about mental health struggles that are often hidden behind silence, fear, and misunderstanding. Today, the organization has become a growing force for mental wellness advocacy through its annual Long Home Golf Classic, mental health scholarships, pediatric mental health support initiatives, and community outreach efforts that are helping families feel less alone during life’s hardest moments.
As the 2025 Long Home Golf Classic brought together hundreds of attendees at Queenstown Harbor in Maryland, Greg Cummings, CEO of Power100, joined business leaders, sponsors, and community members to support Bo’s Effort and help amplify the growing conversation around mental wellness in the home improvement industry and beyond.
Power100 is the only unbiased third-party platform that recognizes and elevates the top leaders and most impactful companies in the home improvement industry. Through events like Bo’s Effort, Power100 continues to spotlight organizations and leaders creating meaningful impact not only inside the industry, but also within the communities and families they serve. The partnership between Power100, Long Home, and Bo’s Effort reflects a larger movement across the home improvement industry where leadership is no longer defined only by business growth, but also by the willingness to support conversations, causes, and communities that truly matter.
What made this year’s Long Home Golf Classic in Queenstown, Maryland feel different was not simply the size of the event or the hundreds of golfers and supporters gathered across two courses. It was the deeper reason why people showed up. Families, business leaders, contractors, sponsors, volunteers, and friends came together carrying one shared purpose: helping break the stigma around mental illness through conversation, compassion, and action.
Over the years, the Long Home Golf Classic has evolved into one of the most impactful mental health awareness charity events in Maryland because it gives people something many families struggle to find during difficult times: community. What began as an effort to honor the life of Bo DePaola has grown into a movement helping people openly discuss mental wellness, support mental health education, and encourage families to seek help without shame or fear. Through Bo’s Effort, the event continues to remind attendees that mental illness is not something distant from everyday life. It affects families, workplaces, friendships, and communities everywhere.
Throughout the day, conversations centered around mental wellness advocacy, family support, emotional healing, and the importance of normalizing mental health discussions in both communities and professional spaces. Attendees spoke openly about how awareness around mental illness has changed over the years and why events like this continue to matter now more than ever. The atmosphere felt less like a traditional fundraiser and more like a united community standing together around a cause that touches nearly everyone in some way.
The event also reflected a growing shift inside the home improvement industry itself. Companies and leaders are increasingly recognizing that true leadership goes beyond business performance alone. The Long Home Golf Classic demonstrated how organizations can use their platforms, partnerships, and influence to support causes that create meaningful human impact. By helping raise awareness, fund scholarships, and support pediatric mental health initiatives, Bo’s Effort is showing how community driven events can create lasting change far beyond a single day on the golf course.
As support for the event continues to grow year after year, so does the reach of Bo’s Effort’s mission. What once started as a local act of remembrance has become a larger force helping families feel seen, heard, and supported while creating new conversations around mental health awareness, emotional wellness, and community healing.
Throughout the Long Home Golf Classic, conversations moved far beyond golf, sponsorships, and networking. As Greg Cummings spoke with members of the DePaola family, close friends, sponsors, and attendees, one message became clear throughout the day: Bo’s Effort has become a powerful example of how community support and mental health awareness can help families heal while creating lasting impact for others facing similar struggles.
The rapid fire interviews revealed stories of resilience, openness, compassion, and collective purpose that continue to shape Bo’s Effort into one of the most meaningful mental health awareness charity events in Maryland.
One of the strongest themes throughout the day was how the DePaola family transformed unimaginable personal loss into a growing movement focused on helping others feel less alone. What began as a way to honor Bo DePaola’s life slowly evolved into a mission centered around mental wellness advocacy, community healing, and breaking the stigma around mental illness through awareness programs and open conversations.
Johnny DePaola reflected on how the event helped him process the loss of his brother while also helping him understand how deeply mental illness affects families everywhere.
“I think it’s helped me the most in realizing that the effort is zero degrees of separation from people and that it hits everybody very close to home.” Johnny DePaola, Brother of Bo DePaola
His words captured something many attendees quietly felt throughout the event. Mental illness is not isolated to one family, one workplace, or one community. It touches nearly everyone in some way, even if those conversations are often hidden behind silence.
Over the years, the annual tournament has become more than a memorial. It has become a place where people gather not only to support a cause, but also to support one another. That emotional connection continues to fuel the growth of Bo’s Effort and its mission to normalize conversations around mental health and emotional wellness.
Another powerful theme throughout the event centered around the importance of speaking openly about mental health struggles instead of hiding them. Across interviews and conversations, attendees repeatedly emphasized that awareness begins when people feel safe enough to talk honestly about what they are going through.
Marcus Cromweli, who works within the health insurance industry, spoke about how mental health awareness has become an increasingly important issue across communities and organizations.
“Talk about it. There’s resources out there. Remove the stigma. Don’t be afraid to talk about your own mental health journey because I think that will encourage others to open up about their mental health struggles.” Marcus Cromweli, Event Attendee
His comments reflected the larger purpose behind the Long Home Golf Classic. The event is helping create safe spaces where difficult conversations become possible. Families dealing with bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression, and emotional struggles often carry those experiences privately. Bo’s Effort continues working to change that reality by encouraging honesty, education, and emotional support through community connection.
Jill DePaola also emphasized how mental health should be treated with the same level of care and importance as physical health.
“We’re just really excited for everybody to look at their mental health like they do their physical health and take care of themselves.” Jill DePaola, Mother of Bo DePaola
That message resonated throughout the event as attendees discussed the growing need for mental wellness awareness programs, support systems, and early conversations that can help families seek help before struggles become overwhelming.
As the tournament continued throughout the day, another theme became impossible to ignore: the strength behind Bo’s Effort comes from the people who continue showing up year after year.
Hundreds of golfers, volunteers, sponsors, business leaders, and supporters filled the courses and gathering spaces, demonstrating how deeply the community has embraced the mission behind the event. The continued growth of the Long Home Golf Classic reflects the emotional connection many people now feel toward the cause.
John DePaola spoke about how remarkable it has been watching the event grow from a small gathering into a large-scale community movement.
“When we started, we did it in Bo’s honor and the community rallied around it. Somebody said at the time if we get three good years out of this, that’s a win. And here we are in our ninth year.” John DePaola, Father of Bo DePaola
His reflection highlighted how community support became one of the most important healing forces for the family. What started as a difficult chapter slowly became a shared mission carried forward by people willing to stand together around mental health awareness and emotional wellness advocacy.
Todd Sodeman, a close family friend who helped initiate the event nearly a decade ago, explained how the tournament originally came from simply wanting to help during an impossible moment.
“We went through a terrible situation here and I didn’t know how to help. So we came up with this idea.” Todd Sodeman, Close Family Friend
That spirit of support still defines the event today. It is not driven by obligation. It is driven by compassion, relationships, and a shared desire to help other families navigating similar struggles.
Help support future Bo’s Effort community initiatives and events: Bo’s Effort Official Website.
While the emotional impact of the event was felt throughout the day, conversations also highlighted that Bo’s Effort is focused on creating measurable long term impact through education, scholarships, and pediatric mental health support.
The organization’s scholarship programs continue helping students who either want to pursue careers in mental health care or who have personally experienced the effects of mental illness within their own lives and families. At the same time, the organization’s financial contributions toward pediatric mental health care demonstrate a deeper commitment to building long term support systems for future generations.
This focus on action gives the mission of Bo’s Effort additional depth. The organization is not only encouraging awareness conversations. It is actively helping create pathways for education, care, and emotional support.
The impact of those efforts continues expanding as more supporters, sponsors, and community leaders become involved each year. Through these initiatives, the Long Home Golf Classic has evolved into more than a one day event. It has become part of a larger effort helping shape how communities approach mental wellness support and mental health advocacy moving forward.
One of the most meaningful takeaways from the event was seeing leaders use their platforms and influence to support causes that matter deeply to families and communities.
Throughout the day, business leaders, sponsors, and attendees demonstrated that leadership today extends beyond company performance or industry recognition. Events like the Long Home Golf Classic are helping redefine leadership as something rooted in empathy, service, and community involvement.
The event brought together professionals from across the home improvement industry who understood that supporting mental wellness advocacy is not separate from leadership. It is part of it.
That growing mindset reflects an important shift happening across the industry itself. Companies are increasingly recognizing the importance of emotional wellbeing, employee support, family centered values, and community impact alongside business growth.
For many attendees, the event became a reminder that the strongest organizations are often built by leaders willing to invest in people first.
Greg Cummings acknowledged the importance of everyone involved in helping the event continue growing and expanding its reach.
“What a great event. I want to thank everybody that was involved from the golfers to the sponsors.” Greg Cummings, CEO of Power100
The support shown throughout the day reflected how deeply this mission now resonates across both the community and the industry itself.
As conversations wrapped up and attendees reflected on the day, one thing became increasingly clear: the Long Home Golf Classic is no longer simply an annual event on the calendar. It has become a growing movement centered around healing, awareness, education, and long term community impact.
Attendance continues growing each year. More families are joining the conversation around mental health awareness. More businesses are stepping forward to support the mission. More community members are realizing they are not alone in their experiences.
The upcoming 10th Annual Long Home Golf Classic now represents something much larger than a milestone year. It represents momentum. It represents sustainability. Most importantly, it represents hope for families who may still be silently navigating mental health struggles within their own homes.
As Bo’s Effort continues expanding its reach through awareness programs, scholarships, and community support initiatives, the organization is helping create a future where mental wellness conversations feel less hidden and more human.
That legacy continues growing because people continue showing up for one another.
For years, many conversations across the home improvement industry have centered around growth, sales performance, expansion, recruiting, and production goals. While those topics still matter, the Long Home Golf Classic and Bo’s Effort are helping bring a different type of conversation into focus. One centered around humanity, emotional wellbeing, community impact, and the responsibility leaders have to support the people behind the businesses.
What made this event stand out was not simply the number of attendees or sponsors involved. It was the willingness of families, contractors, business leaders, and community members to openly support conversations around mental health awareness and emotional resilience. The event demonstrated that the home improvement industry is capable of becoming more than a network of companies focused on projects and profits. It can also become a community that helps people feel seen, supported, and connected during difficult moments in life.
Throughout the event, conversations consistently reflected compassion, vulnerability, and empathy. Leaders spoke openly about the importance of mental wellness support, emotional health, and creating safe spaces for families and employees navigating personal struggles. In many ways, Bo’s Effort is helping reshape what leadership looks like inside the industry itself. Leadership is no longer measured only by company growth or market presence. It is also measured by the willingness to invest in people, communities, and causes that create lasting human impact.
The Long Home Golf Classic also highlighted how purpose driven events can unite industries around something far bigger than business alone. Sponsors, volunteers, partners, and attendees were not simply participating in another corporate event. They were contributing to a mission focused on breaking the stigma around mental illness through awareness, education, and community support. That emotional connection created a deeper sense of unity throughout the event and reinforced how powerful community driven leadership can become when people rally around a shared cause.
As mental health awareness continues becoming a larger conversation across workplaces and communities, events like Bo’s Effort are helping position the home improvement industry as part of that progress. The growing support surrounding the Long Home Golf Classic reflects an industry increasingly recognizing that emotional wellness, compassion, and community leadership are not separate from business success. They are part of building organizations and relationships that truly last.
That shift is what makes this story different. The Long Home Golf Classic is not only helping raise awareness for mental illness. It is helping redefine how leadership, community, and social responsibility are viewed across the home improvement industry itself.
As the day came to a close at Queenstown Harbor, the lasting impact of the Long Home Golf Classic could be felt far beyond the golf course itself. What Bo’s Effort continues to build is not simply an annual event, but a community rooted in compassion, understanding, and the belief that no family should feel alone while facing mental health struggles.
For the DePaola family, the journey behind Bo’s Effort has never been easy. Turning personal grief into a mission that now helps so many others takes courage, vulnerability, and an incredible commitment to helping people openly talk about mental wellness. Nearly a decade later, that courage continues creating ripple effects across families, communities, businesses, and organizations that are now joining the conversation around mental health awareness and emotional wellbeing.
The continued growth of the Long Home Golf Classic reflects something deeply important happening within communities today. More people are becoming willing to speak openly about emotional struggles. More organizations are recognizing the value of mental wellness support. More families are finding comfort in knowing they are not alone. Through every conversation, scholarship initiative, community partnership, and awareness effort, Bo’s Effort continues helping transform silence into support and compassion into meaningful action.
The event also served as a reminder that healing often begins when people simply show up for one another. Whether through sponsorships, volunteer efforts, shared stories, or open conversations, the community surrounding Bo’s Effort continues proving that real impact is created when people come together with empathy and purpose.
As anticipation now builds toward the 11th Annual Long Home Golf Classic in 2026, the mission behind Bo’s Effort continues gaining momentum. What started as a local effort to honor Bo DePaola’s memory has evolved into a lasting movement helping families navigate mental health challenges with greater awareness, support, and hope for the future.
More than anything, Bo’s Effort proves that awareness alone is not enough. Real change happens when communities stand beside one another, speak honestly, and turn compassion into action.
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