THE CHARITIES ISSUE
Last season’s FedEx Cup
champ and PGA Tour
player of the year—and
father of two—put a twist
on the donation-per-birdie
format by asking fans to
contribute an amount
they selected (minimum
10 cents) for each of his
birdies during o;cial
tour events this season.
Donors could enlist online
or through mobile devices
and designate any of the
network’s 170 hospitals
to receive their dollars.
Donors also received
monthly emails and text
messages on the player’s
performance and network
hospital projects. £
miraclebirdies.childrensmir-
aclenetworkhospitals.org
Olympics World Games.
As a global ambassador—
a designation he shares
with athletes Yao Ming
and Nadia Comaneci and
actor Colin Farrell, among
AARON GOLDBERG
Various charities
As with Furyk, the
Nationwide Tour rookie
from San Diego put a twist
on a donation-per-birdie
format he established
last year as Canadian
Tour player of the year:
He changes the recipient
charity with every tournament. He asks donors
to match his $5 pledge
for each birdie and then
posts on his Twitter page
(@aarongoldbergsd) the
cause he’s playing for in
the event’s host city. The
amount has topped $2,000
during some of his best
weeks this season.
others—he helps mentor
youngsters interested in
the game, raises funds
and awareness and helps
formulate guidelines and
practices for athletes,
coaches and o;cials. £
specialolympics.org
United Way of East
Central Iowa, the 2007
Masters victor pledged
at least $1.05 million for a
three-year pilot program
providing additional
sta; at two
elementary
schools in his
hometown of
Cedar Rapids.
The schools
were selected
because of the
extent they
were a;ected
by massive
flooding in
2008. The
coordinators hired by
the program will foster
academic and personal
growth of students and
better connect families
with educational e;orts. £
zachjohnsonfoundation.com
Arthritis sufferer McPherson gets a lift helping kids like Bailey Warren, age 6.
rod and five screws into
her spine. Although she
now makes appearances
and promotes the organization through public-service announcements, she
also provides an example
to youngsters diagnosed
with scoliosis and their
families by including pre-and post-surgical X-rays
of her spine on a site that
tells her story. £
srs.org • stacysback.com
JEE YOUNG LEE
Meals on Wheels
Surprised to learn of
the existence of senior
malnutrition and hunger
in the U.S., the sixth-year
LPGA member from Korea
enlisted with the U.S.’s
largest and oldest e;ort
benefiting senior nutrition programs. She makes
regular public appearances
on the organization’s behalf,
including joining volunteers
of chapters near tournament sites in making daily
meal deliveries. £
mowaa.org
GEORGE MCNEILL AND
BOBBY NICHOLS
Children’s Advocacy Center
of Southwest Fla.
Abuse Counseling and
Treatment Inc.
Nichols, the 1964 PGA
winner, recruited McNeill
to join his charitable work
three years ago when
the then second-year pro
became a fellow member
at Fiddlesticks CC in Fort
Myers, Fla. Eight years
of spring events (
walk-a-thon, tennis tournament,
two-day golf pro-am) have
raised $3.14 million, including $631,000 in 2010, for
nearby projects assisting
women and children. £
nicholscup.org
PADRAIG HARRINGTON
Special Olympics
Became interested in the
organization after experiencing the overwhelming
support his compatriots
o;ered when Ireland
hosted the 2003 Special
BILLY HURLE Y III
Adoption Advocates
International
Nationwide Tour member,
who recently completed
his five-year hitch in the
U.S. Navy, became aware
of the charity while he
and wife Heather were
adopting their son Jacob.
The Hurleys help raise
awareness and funding
for AAI facilities such
as Layla House, Jacob’s
orphanage in Ethiopia,
while encouraging qualified parents in the U.S. to
consider adoption alternatives in China, Ethiopia,
Ghana and Thailand. £
adoptionadvocates.org
ZACH JOHNSON
Kids on Course
As part of his foundation
and in conjunction with
STACY LEWIS
Scoliosis Research Society
Diagnosed at age 11 with
an abnormal lateral spinal
curvature, Lewis wore a
back brace until age 18 and
then underwent surgery
during college to insert a
KRISTY MCPHERSON
Arthritis National
Research Foundation
Fifth-year pro was diagnosed with Still’s disease,
a chronic swelling of the
joints, as a child and spent
an extended period at age
11 confined to bed. Doctors
said she had no hope of
playing professional sports.
Now firmly stationed in
the top 100 of the Rolex
Rankings, she speaks and
makes appearances in support of scientific research
COURTESY OF THE ARTHRITIS NATIONAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION; JOHN PRICE/PGA TOUR; COURTESY OF THE SCOLIOSIS RESEARCH SOCIETY
