🔦 Tracey Graves: Volunteer, Fundraiser, Force of Nature | Feature Spotlight

Updated October 14, 2026, with results from the 5th Annual Mason Golf Classic.

At Kingston Spotlight, we have a massive soft spot for our local volunteers. They really are the heartbeat of our city, and we love getting to share the stories of the people who give so much of their time to make Kingston better.

Today, we’re shining a light on Tracey Graves. To say Tracey is involved in the community is an epic understatement. Whether she is organizing and promoting the Annual Mason Golf Classic (which we will dig into later in this article), serving on the Board of Directors for Breast Cancer Action Kingston, helping out Kingston 4 Paws Service Dogs, or volunteering with Kids 4 Kids organization and the Kingston Canadian Film Festival, she is a one-woman powerhouse for good in our community. 

If your head is already spinning trying to understand how all this is possible, this is all on top of her full-time career! Even in her professional life, Tracey’s dedication shines through as a member of the Occupational Health and Safety Committee, the Social and Wellness Committee, and the Ethnocultural and Diversion Committee. It really speaks to the genuine heart she puts into every single part of her day.

When Tracey finally moved to Kingston in 2006, the transition wasn't exactly seamless. As a self-described "big city girl" from Montreal, she quickly realized that the pace and style of her new home were worlds apart from what she knew.

She recalls a funny but frustrating moment at a local job finding club where an advisor told her she was actually too polished. "They told me I was intimidating because I dressed too well for interviews," Tracey laughs. "In Montreal, your jacket matches your pants and your shoes match your bag! Here, things were just a bit more laid back."

But that big city hustle served her well. She eventually landed a role at the Heart and Stroke Foundation after pushing through a gruelling interview while sick with pneumonia. It was that never-give-up attitude that would eventually define her role in the community.

Tracey’s life changed forever when Chris passed away. They were truly two people with one soul, best friends and soul mates in every sense. Chris was a successful advisor, and he was also a devoted husband, dad, and gramps who gave nine years of his heart to the board of the Partners in Mission Food Bank. He was a man who lived by a simple, powerful rule: No one should ever go hungry.

The tournament was first Chris’s idea. Before COVID, he asked Tracey why the food bank no longer had a golf tournament, and whether she’d help him start one. She’d run plenty in Montreal, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to help families get their kids on the ice. She said yes, on one condition: her name stayed off it, since the two of them had agreed never to sit on the same board. Then COVID shelved the plan.

After Chris passed away in 2022, it was suggested that Tracey hold a tournament in his honour. That first one was really a day of golf for about 60 family and friends, followed by a potluck back at the house, where the neighbours came over too. Someone then suggested turning it into a charity event, and the Annual Mason Golf Classic was born. In its first four years as a charity event, the Mason Golf Classic has raised more than $91,000 for Partners in Mission Food Bank, with a crew of friends helping Tracey build and wrap the gift baskets.

The 2025 Annual Mason Classic Golf Tournament

The 5th Annual Mason Golf Classic sold out at 144 golfers, with a wait list. Tracey already has a wait list for 2027, too. Some of this year’s new golfers brought as many as three teams, and on tournament day she was still getting texts asking her to call if anyone cancelled.

The tournament raised $25,000 for Partners in Mission Food Bank. Food costs went up this year, so the cheque came out about the same as last year’s even though more came in. On September 30, Tracey handed it to Dan Irwin, the food bank’s Executive Director. He’s building a wall of thanks at the food bank, and two of its cheques now come from the Mason Golf Classic.

There was plenty for Tracey’s laughter rule to work with. Hawes Partners offered a golf trip to Ireland, and to qualify, golfers had to hit with a hickory stick, the original wooden-shafted golf club. Two Kingston hickory champions, Bob and Bobby, came out in traditional golf clothes to run it. Nobody won the trip, but Tracey has already asked them back. Long drive pro Mike Zulauf, the 2021 Canadian National Amateur Long Drive Champion, came from Barrie for his fourth year and raised a record amount. TEED UP, a Canadian golf drink brand, handed out full cans on the first hole. Lone Star Texas Grill’s nachos on the seventh hole went so fast they ran out.

The weather was gorgeous, and the cold only arrived the day after. Tracey is sure that was Chris’s doing, and plenty of the golfers agree: he delivers the weather every year.

While Tracey spends her workdays as an HR professional, her soul fuel comes from the quiet corners of Kingston. After the loss of her husband, it took time to return to the trails they once shared, but she has since made a point of getting back out there.

You might find her snowshoeing at Little Cataraqui Creek, which she considers one of the city's best kept secrets, or walking the trails around the West End and Lemoine Point, which is another of her top favourites.

She also credits the team at K4Paws (Kingston 4 Paws Service Dogs) for helping her navigate some of her darkest days. After getting involved through a COVID era bottle drive, she found that the connection with the dogs provided a unique kind of healing that she now pays forward by volunteering with the organization whenever she can.

Today, Tracey describes herself as "lost in a living body," but she is fighting every day to relearn life. Between her lead role in the Annual Mason Golf Classic, her board position at Breast Cancer Action Kingston, her work with the Kingston Canadian Film Festival, and her renewed activity with Kids 4 Kids, she has become a familiar face and a dedicated helping hand for so many local causes.

She recently spent a weekend almost losing her voice at the Slush Puppie Place arena selling Chuck-A-Puck, where she was told you could hear her from a mile away!

"It’s a labour of love," she says. "The gratitude from the community is my payment."

The tournament is a high-energy day dedicated to keeping Chris’s legacy alive while supporting our local Partners in Mission Food Bank.

Contact Tracey Graves directly at 613-888-3587 or via email at [email protected].