ATLANTA, Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The BellSouth Classic, Atlanta's annual
stop on the PGA TOUR event since 1967, has announced a record-breaking
total contribution of $1.717 million to charities from the 2006 BellSouth
Classic. Atlanta-area charities will receive the majority of the
contributions and the total exceeds the previous record amount set in 1997
by more than $700,000.
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA), the event's primary recipient
of tournament proceeds since 1981, will receive $880,000, junior golf
related programs $35,000, and other charities more than $800,000. More than
$527,000, for charities other than CHOA and junior golf, was generated from
the Atlanta Classic Foundation's Birdies for Charity program. With this
total donation, the tournament has now contributed more than $12.3 million
to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and over $15 million to Atlanta
charities overall.
"It is so satisfying for our volunteers to know their efforts on behalf
of the BellSouth Classic have changed so many lives," said Dave Kaplan,
Tournament Director of the BellSouth Classic. "Giving back to the community
is at the heart of the Classic and all tournaments of the PGA TOUR."
"BellSouth has a tradition of service to the community and the
BellSouth Classic has been a cornerstone of that support," said Duane
Ackerman, chairman and CEO, BellSouth Corporation. "We are proud of our
contribution to the Atlanta community, and especially to the families and
children who are direct beneficiaries of the tournament proceeds."
"We are very pleased with this year's donation and that it put us over
the $12 million mark in total contributions to Children's," said Joe Guy,
President of the Atlanta Classic Foundation, the tournament's organizing
body. "This level of contribution happens because of the generous corporate
commitment provided by BellSouth, other participating sponsors and the
tireless efforts of our nearly 1,800 volunteers."
"Each year this significant contribution from the BellSouth Classic
enables Children's Healthcare of Atlanta to purchase the most advanced
equipment and to increase the level of care to our young patients," said
Gene Hayes, President, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation. Hayes
adds that this year's donation will be directed towards the capital
campaign for current hospital expansion initiatives.
Over the years, the money raised by the tournament has helped
Children's develop its state-of-the-art facilities and further enhances its
reputation as one of the nation's finest children's hospitals.
Other recipients of 2006 BellSouth Classic proceeds include the Atlanta
Junior Golf Association, the Georgia State Golf Association's Yates
Scholarship Fund, The First Tee of Atlanta, the First Tee National Schools
Program and the Project One Junior Golf Academy totaling $35,000. Donations
to miscellaneous charities totaled $802,000 with the majority of that
amount coming from the Birdies for Charity program.
The 2006 tournament was won by Phil Mickelson who also won the event in
2005 and 2000. Mickelson became the tournament's first three-time champion.
The 2007 BellSouth Classic will be played at the TPC at Sugarloaf in
Duluth, GA, May 14 through 20, more than a month later than the past
several years. Expected to compete are Mickelson, two-time BellSouth
Classic titleholder Scott McCarron, two-time US Open champion Retief
Goosen, Sugarloaf resident Stewart Cink and many more of the world's finest
professional golfers.
SOURCE BellSouth Corporation
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John Marshall, Media Director,
+1-770-436-2643, or Brent Fowler, +1-404-249-2839, or
brent.fowler@bellsouth.com, both for BellSouth Corporation
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