Drive for Dreams – Kenya Update

Members that attended the 2006 EWGA Conference in Amelia Island will remember Rose Naliaka. She is the only LPGA Pro in Kenya with a group of girls that the EWGA Foundation’s Drive for Dreams campaign organized a program to gather donated golf items and ship them to Kenya, Africa.
Well, Rose’s girls just recently were able to use their newly honed golf skills on a trip to St. Andrews Scotland. Through connections that Rose made at the EWGA Conference, Rose and her girls were offered a trip to St. Andrews. Here is a letter that was sent to Pam Swensen recently from Rose.

Dear Pam,

Hope you are both keeping well

Sorry, I have not written for a while.  It’s been hectic to prepare the children for the visit to St Andrews.  It was all dramatic to obtain passports for some of the kids who had no Birth Certificates.  Somehow, I managed to get the documents and on 24th of last month we left for Scotland.  The girls were so excited it was great to see them on the plane. They discovered themselves how to operate the TV and they played games, watched movies until we arrived.  For me, it was just great that I had finally changed four girls lives for ever. 

We had great reception at St. Andrews with lots of golf played on Balgove course, Strathtyrum course, Kingarrock Hickory course, Kingsbarns course and finally the Old course which we all found difficulties coming out of bunkers, impossible rough and wind.  However, we had great fun and it was a privilege to play that course.  We visited the British Museum and the R&A which was educative and interesting.  We had a chance to watch the first day of the Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes where we met Paula Creamer, Natilie Gulbis, Michele Wie, Lorena Ochoa and all top LPGA tour players.

We could have never had the opportunity to enjoy the above if it was not for your support and EWGA.  We shall forever appreciate you for opening the doors for us!

Remember the first photos I sent you?  Look at how the girls have transformed!!

Hugs,

Rose

 

Drive for Dreams Club Donation Drives at EWGA Championship Semi-Final Sites

The EWGA Foundation’s 2009 Drive for Dreams initiative to benefit Renee Powell’s girls golf program at the historic Clearview Golf Club in East Canton, OH is moving ‘full throttle’ through the summer months into Fall. EWGA Headquarters is working with the PGA-staffed facilities hosting the 2009 EWGA Championship Semi-finals, along with the PGA Golf Club hosting the 2009 EWGA Championship Finals to have drop-off receptacles for club donations so that competitors, spectators, guests and friends can easily join in the effort to collect ‘gently used’ clubs in support of the EWGA Foundation’s Drive for Dreams Campaign. Simply bring your club donations to the EWGA Championship Semi-final or Final event sign-in / registration table and indicate that the clubs are for the EWGA Foundation’s Drive for Dreams campaign. Club donation receipts are available at the drop-off receptable area.

To learn more about how you can participate in support of the EWGA Foundation’s efforts to ‘Give the Gift of Golf’ to those less fortunate, visit the EWGA Foundation Drive for Dreams area under ‘Learn More About EWGA’ at http://www.ewga.com/.

 

Drive for Dreams – 2009 Brings it Home

Those who met her at the 2007 EWGA Conference will remember Rose Naliaka. Those whose generosity helped the EWGA Foundation share the gift of golf with Rose’s girls may remember the story.

It was the first effort undertaken by the EWGA Foundation to “share the gift of golf” with those less fortunate. Rose Naliaka is the only female golf professional in Kenya and with the help of EWGA members, Chapters, and sponsors; Rose now has the tools she so sorely needed to use golf to teach life lessons to girls who otherwise lead a squalid existence in a country rife with HIV and illiteracy.

Prior to our help, Rose and her girls had only a handful of golf clubs. More than a year after the golf clubs, shoes, clothes and more were collected, packed to journey across the Atlantic ocean, and stalled by a lengthy customs delay, Rose’s EWGA “gift of golf” finally arrived giving every one of her girls the chance to swing at a golf ball and hope for a better life.

2009 Brings it Home

This year’s Drive for Dreams campaign benefits Renee Powell’s girls’ golf program in East Canton, Ohio.

A LPGA/PGA golf professional, Renee is one of only three African-American women to play on the LPGA Tour and she was the recipient of the EWGA’s 2002 Leadership Award (one of many golf industry awards). Her family’s Clearview Golf Club (on the National Register of Historic Places) was built by her father in 1948 and remains the only African-American owned and operated golf facility in the country.

Over the past seven years, Renee’s year-round girls’ golf program has nurtured nearly 250 girls, introducing them to golf and the many doors it can open. Many of her students who did not know how to play golf at the start of their school years are now on collegiate teams. One has earned a full scholarship to Penn State and another received a Women’s Sports Foundation scholarship.

There are two ways for EWGA members to get involved with the EWGA Foundation’s Drive for Dreams initiative. Here’s how you can help:

EWGA Chapters are invited to “adopt a girl”
Be one of 33 EWGA Chapters who will personally help one of Renee’s 35 girls this year (the EWGA Foundation Board and the EWGA staff have already adopted two girls).

The girls range in age 7 to 15. You can help them start their school year off this fall by providing basic school supplies and a golf outfit. We all know how a new outfit can lift your spirits and buoy one’s confidence! And let’s not take for granted that starting school with the basics is something enjoyed by all students. Won’t you “adopt” one of Renee’s girls and be responsible for a smile that is sure to last all year long? Chapters interested in adopting one of Renee’s girls should send an email indicating your Chapter’s intent to adopt one (or more) of Renee’s girls to foundation@myewga.com. In this email, include your Chapter name and the designated Chapter contact name for this effort. Once you receive from AHQ the information on your girl and the list of suggested items for your Chapter to collect (items are to be new vs. used), your Chapter board can work on collecting the modest list of low cost items and/or put the word out to your Chapter membership. Download additional details on the Drive for Dreams Adopt A Girl program here. Deadline for receipt of boxes is September 1, 2009.

Turn Unwanted Clubs into Cash Donations

The EWGA Foundation is working with the PGA of America and its Trade-In Network to help us turn unwanted golf clubs into cash donations based on their fair market trade-in values. The EWGA is doing its part by having club donation drop off receptacles at its 15 EWGA Championship semi-final sites and at the Championship Finals at which everyone it welcome to contribute. EWGA Chapters are also encouraged to utilize local events to also collect golf club donations under the Drive for Dreams initiative. To learn more about how to host a club donation drive in conjunction with a local event, download this program overview.

Remember 1-2-3 When You Donate Clubs (club donation criteria)

EWGA Foundation Drive for Dreams Club Donation Receipt

 

Upgrading to New Clubs This Season? Unsure What to Do with the Old Ones?

Cleaning out your closets, trunk, garage or upgrading your golf bag this summer? Unsure what to do with ‘gently used’ golf clubs? Consider donating your clubs to the EWGA Foundation’s 2009 ‘Drive for Dreams’ campaign. Get a new club, donate the old club, give the gift of golf! We will be hosting club donation drives at each of the 2009 EWGA Championship Semi-final and Final sites, as well as at the upcoming July 10th EWGA Foundation fundraiser in Easton, PA.

 

Sneak Peak: EWGA at the U.S. Women’s Open Fundraiser to benefit LPGA-USGA Girls Golf Being Held July 10th

It’s All Awaiting You This Summer in Pennsylvania…. Great Golf, Camaraderie, Fun…

Join us for the 7th Annual EWGA at the U.S. Women’s Open Charity Golf Tournament & Silent Auction Fundraiser hosted by the EWGA Foundation on Friday, July 10th at the Riverview Golf & Country Club in Easton, PA, just minutes from all of the U.S. Women’s Open action!

Arrive by 11 a.m. to sign in, warm up and get ready for a 12:30 p.m. shotgun with box lunch. Golf tournament registration includes a gift bag, fantastic prizes awarded in both mixed and all women’s flights, as well as a few surprises along the way. After golf, there’s a last chance to test your putting skills, followed by cocktail reception, dinner, awards presentation and silent auction/drawing. Some of the items up for bid this year include four (4) week-long PING Pavilion passes to the 2009 Solheim Cup with an autographed pin flag valued at over $1,400; a limited edition TPC Sawgrass artist’s proof by renowned golf landscape artist Graeme Baxter; Stay & Play golf getaways at some exclusive resorts; numerous golf foursomes at top rated courses nationwide; golf equipment, and more!

Event participants also have the opportunity to bid on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play their round of golf with former LPGA Tour Player and 2003 First Lady of Golf Award recipient Renee Powell, a founding member of the Canton, OH Chapter of EWGA and one of only three African American women to ever play on the LPGA Tour. Download bid sheet for additional details here.

To learn more about Renee, visit: http://www.clearview-gc.com/ or check out the EWGA Foundation section (‘Drive for Dreams Initiative’) under the ‘Learn More About EWGA’ tab at www.ewga.com.

We hope EWGA members in the region will not only be well represented, but will treat yourselves to this special opportunity. Don’t delay, register today! Registration is open through Friday, June 26th. To learn more, visit the EWGA at the U.S. Women’s Open under ‘Events’ at http://www.ewga.com/ or register online through the ‘Member Login’ and click on Events & Orders.

 

Do You Have Fundraising Experience You’d Like to Share?

The EWGA Foundation is seeking active EWGA members to join this newly formed committee that will help raise funds through major gifts and special event fundraising with a focus on creating fundraising momentum, augmenting the existing EWGA Foundation fundraising activities and initiating new avenues in which to generate funds. For additional details, download position specification.

If you are interested inserving on this committee, or would like additional details, please send an inquiry to EWGA Foundation Board President Margaret Downey at foundation@myewga.com.

 

Great Golf. Top-notch competition from the world’s best female golfers. Camaraderie. Fun. Join Us at the 7th Annual EWGA at the U.S. Women’s Open on July 10th

7th Annual EWGA at the U.S. Women’s Open

An EWGA Foundation Event to Benefit LPGA-USGA Girls Golf

Great Golf. Top-notch competition from the world’s best female golfers. Camaraderie. Fun. We invite you to be there.

This is your special invitation to join us for our 7th annual EWGA at the U.S. Women’s Open charity fundraiser being held Friday, July 10 at the Riverview Golf Club in Easton, PA, just minutes away from the U.S. Women’s Open action at Saucon Valley in Bethlehem.

Benefiting LPGA-USGA Girls Golf, this annual event put on by the EWGA Foundation brings together EWGA members and guests from throughout the country to play golf, raise money for our future generation and experience one of the premier events in women’s golf.

While you may already be volunteering at the U.S. Women’s Open or planning to attend, please include our EWGA at the U.S. Women’s Open Friday charity event in your plans. Friday’s fun tournament (a four-person shamble) will be packed with surprises, a gift bag, box lunch and awards dinner, plus fantastic prizes awarded in both mixed and all women’s flights. This year’s event has a 12:30 pm shotgun start, so you can drive in on Friday morning and then stay for the weekend to watch the excitement unfold as the world’s best compete to win the prestigious U.S. Women’s Open championship.

Can’t make Friday golf? Come for the dinner and silent auction fundraiser and catch up with all your EWGA friends from across the country. Donations, sponsorships and auction item contributions also are welcome.

For your convenience, download a registration form here or you may register online by visiting the Member Log In section of the EWGA website and clicking on the Events & Orders tab. You will find information on area hotels, sponsorship opportunities, and a link to preferred pricing on U.S. Women’s Open tickets posted on the “EWGA at the U.S. Women’s Open” page under Events at http://www.ewga.com/. Preferred ticket pricing offer for EWGA members available only through May 31st.

Don’t miss this special opportunity to be part of the excitement that is the U.S. Women’s Open. Share in the fun with your EWGA friends while helping support Girls Golf.

Hope to see you there!

Back to EWGA Connections Home

 

Deadline to Apply for Women on Par Scholarship April 30, 2009

Time is running out to apply for the EWGA® Foundations’ “Women On Par®” Scholarship.

The ”Women On Par® ^” Scholarship Program is designed to help women over the age of 30 interested in beginning or completing their undergraduate college education. The “Women On Par® ” Scholarship, provided by the EWGA Foundation, has been established to provide financial assistance to “nontraditional” female students who need assistance in bolstering their education to allow them to “get on par” with their peers and to advance themselves, whether professionally or personally. 

Applicants and scholarship recipients are not required to be EWGA Members. Eligibility requirements include the following:

·          Female, at least 30 years of age

·          U.S. or Canadian Citizen

·          Pursuing a technical/vocational degree, associates, or bachelor’s degree. Candidates must be first time applicants to school or returning to complete degree (Individuals who already have a bachelor’s degree are ineligible to apply for this scholarship)

·          Currently enrolled or accepted to an accredited school, college or university

·          Financial need

APPLICATION PROCESS:  Applications for the 2009 “Women On Par® ” Scholarship will be accepted, starting January 10, 2009 through April 30, 2009.  Only the first 200 qualified applications received will be considered.  Application forms for the 2009 “Women On Par® ” Scholarship will be available for download beginning January 10, 2009 and will be available to download through April 30, 2009 or until 200 completed applications are received, whichever occurs first.   The EWGA Foundation’s 2009 “Women On Par®” Scholarship will be awarded June 15, 2009.

To be considered a valid submission, completed scholarship application packets (Consisting of:  Completed application form signed by applicant; three sealed letters of recommendation; copy of official transcripts from schools previously attended; copy of proof of current enrollment or letter of acceptance from educational institution for upcoming school year) must be postmarked by no later than April 30, 2009 and mailed to the EWGA Foundation via U.S. Postal Service or other authorized carrier (UPS, FedEx, etc.).  Applications may not be submitted electronically or via fax.  For complete submission requirements, please see page 8 of the application form.

Download a 2009 “Women On Par®” Scholarship Application Form  WORD format (you may type in your responses on the WORD formatted version of the application form, then print and/or and save the file on your computer).

Download a 2009 “”Women On Par® ” Scholarship Application Form PDF format

Frequently Asked Questions About the “Women On Par®” Scholarship

 

 

Kenya Update – EWGA Foundation Drive for Dreams 2007 Campaign

At first glance, the photo looks like Kenyan girls on an Easter egg hunt. A closer inspection reveals baskets full of golf balls. These are “Rose’s girls”, happily retrieving the balls they just hit during an after school golf session. Rose Naliaka is the only female golf professional in Kenya and with the help of the EWGA Foundation she is using golf to teach life lessons to girls who otherwise lead a squalid existence in a country rife with HIV and illiteracy.

Thank you letter from a golf student of Rose Naliaka's

In the Fall of 2007, the EWGA Foundation launched an outreach program called “Drive for Dreams”, collecting golf equipment and other resources to ‘Give the Gift of Golf.’ Rose and her “girls” were the first designated recipient. She attended the November 2007 EWGA Conference held at Amelia Island Plantation, Fla. and enlightened conference attendees about her fledgling program. With only a handful of golf clubs, Rose was teaching golf and building self esteem and confidence in young Kenyan school girls.

EWGA members, chapters and sponsors donated a huge collection of golf clubs, shoes, clothes and other items along with funds to ship these much needed resources to Nairobi. As the container load of golf equipment was ready to leave Florida, political unrest erupted in Kenya. After several weeks, Rose reported that she was finally able to trace all the girls and shared heart-wrenching photos of the devastated slums where “some of my girls called home”.

More than a year later, after a long ocean voyage and lengthy customs delays, Rose’s ‘gift of golf’ finally arrived — dozens of clubs, clothes and other equipment – giving every one of her girls the chance to swing at a golf ball and hope for a better life. Photos and letters from the girls came just in time for the 2009 EWGA Conference in February, where the next Drive for Dreams campaign was launched.

The 2009 Drive for Dreams campaign will benefit Renee Powell’s girls golf program in East Canton, Ohio. A LPGA/PGA golf professional, Renee is one of only three African-American women to play on the LPGA tour. Her family’s Clearwater Golf Club  (on the National Register of Historic Places), was built by her father in 1948 and remains the only African- American owned and operated golf facility in the country. Over the past seven years, Renee’s year-around girls golf program has nurtured nearly 250 girls, introducing them to golf and the many doors it can open. Many of her students who did not know how to play golf at the start of high school are now on collegiate teams. One has earned a full scholarship to Penn State and another received a Women’s Sports Foundation scholarship.

“We are thrilled that Rose now has the equipment to help her girls and excited to support Renee in her amazing program,” says Margaret Downey, president of the EWGA Foundation. “Drive for Dreams demonstrates that sharing the ‘gift of golf’ can reach across continents and breaks down barriers. We are turning golf clubs into opportunities to help girls achieve their dreams.”

For this year’s Drive for Dreams campaign, golf club donations will be monetized, turning unwanted golf clubs into cash donations based on their fair market trade-in values. The EWGA Foundation is working with the PGA of America and its PGA Trade-in Network to facilitate the process.

EWGA Chapters are encouraged to utilize their numerous year-round events to collect golf club donations. The association also will promote and have club drop off receptacles at each of its 15 EWGA Championship Semi-Finals and the Championship Finals to encourage participants, spectators, guests and friends to contribute.

Donors will receive a receipt for their donation which they can use when preparing their income tax returns similar to how donations to Goodwill and other charities are handled. For complete details on the program click on the “Learn More About EWGA” button on the home page at ewga.com and click on the EWGA Foundation tab.

Rose Naliaka's Girls Golf

 

A Little Audacity and an Impromptu ‘Live’ Auction Adds Lots of Excitement to the EWGA at the U.S. Women’s Open Fundraiser

Patrice Franco and Mary Jo Burke Celebrate their Winning Bids for a Hotly Contested Pair of Autographed Golf Shoes

 

Many of you know me already, my characteristic welling up when I talk about EWGA, the financial perspective (aka Scrooge) I bring to most discussions, and my unusual golf abilities.  But unless you attended the 2007 EWGA at the US Women’s Open fundraiser in Southern Pines, NC, you missed my most audacious moment, when I sold the shoes off an LPGA Hall of Famer.  I thought I’d share it with you as an example of why you don’t want to miss our event at the Open – because you never know what might happen…

 

The purpose of our event each year is to raise funds for the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program.  As a part of the event, we hold a silent auction fundraiser.  This particular year the hot item was a single red, white and blue autographed golf shoe from the U.S. Solheim Cup team.  Well, seeing that there were about 6 gals bidding fast and furiously on the shoe, I went over to Pam Swenson and asked where the other shoe was, thinking we should put it out for auction here given the number of bidders.  She looked at me quizzically and said “what other shoe?”  I said, “the other half of the pair.”  Pam laughed and said, “There isn’t another.  It is a replica shoe that was donated to us.”

 

Well, those of you who know me know that I can get carried away with my enthusiasm.  LPGA Hall of Famer Patty Sheehan was standing next to Pam during this discussion.  And I happened to remember that Patty was the team captain for the U.S. team.  So I said to Patty, “Do you have a pair of those shoes?”  Would you be willing to donate them so we could sell them?”  Patty glanced over at Pam with a look that said “Is this girl for real?”  But when she spoke she said, “I do and I will donate them.” 

 

So I raced to the front of the room, grabbed the microphone and started a live auction for Patty Sheehan’s shoes.  We ended up with two bidders, Patrice Franco and Mary Jo Burke, so I suggested we split the pair and add a golf glove from Patty for each of the bidders. Patty (what a GREAT sport) agreed to donate the golf gloves and Patrice and Mary Jo both won.  But the real winners were the girls in the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program!

 

Submitted by Carla Washinko, Southern New Jersey Chapter, 7th Annual EWGA at the U.S. Women’s Open Sponsorship Subcommittee Co-Chair