Danversbank’s annual charity golf classic event raised $25,000 for Guard Support of Massachusetts (GSMA).

Guard Support was founded in 2007 by Marblehead resident Nate Dalton, after his friend and neighbor Michael Finer received word of his deployment to Iraq. Dalton founded Guard Support to assist soldiers and families of Massachusetts soldiers on tour abroad.

During the Charity Golf Classic reception, Finer, who is now a Lt. Colonel in the Army National Guard, Past Battalion Commander of the 1st Battalion, 181st Infantry Regiments and Guard Support board member, spoke about his personal experience and how GSMA assisted him and his family during his deployment.

"The only way I was able to speak with my family for a year was through SKYPE. Guard Support gave us the resources to talk often, which helped me to stay positive and assured my family I was doing okay," he said. "Danversbank’s donation today is going to help so many of the 3,000 Mass. Guard members being deployed to Afghanistan over the next several months in the same way."

Danversbank President and CEO Kevin Bottomley thanked Finer for his dedicated service and explained his reason for naming Guard Support as this year’s beneficiary.

"After learning about Guard Support in a news article earlier this year, we thought ‘what better way to support and honor our National Guard Members and their families?’" Bottomley asked. "Most of us here today have not been affected by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the extent the families of our National Guard members have. This donation is a way to give back to the men and women who sacrifice their own safety everyday and whose families wait patiently for their return home."