August 27, 2009 It’s especially gratifying in light of the lingering recession to see that the 2009 BMW Charity Pro-Am Golf Tournament raised $651,829
that will be split among 78 charities in the Upstate and western North Carolina. The amount raised is just a bit less than in the top years, and it brings the grand total to almost $7.3 million that the BMW golf event has raised over the past nine years for 125-plus charities in this region that covers parts of South and North Carolina. “We’re here to tell you we’re here to stay,” said Bobby Hitt, BMW Manufacturing’s manager of public affairs and president of South Carolina Charities Inc. that runs the golf tournament. That’s music to the ears of many local charities that would find their financial situation particularly bleak without the check made possible by the BMW Charity Pro-Am. Local agencies that received a needed financial boost last week included A Child’s Haven, Boys Home of the South, Carolina Miracle League, Pleasant Valley Connection, Project Hope Foundation, Taylors Free Medical Clinic and United Ministries. Joel Shaw, Greenville area representative for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, said his organization was “in a free fall” in the spring. The golf tournament money will help, he told The Greenville News , and a key benefit is “awareness of what we’re doing.” The BMW Charity Pro-Am helps local charities, but it does so much more for the community, too. It attracts some great professional golfers to the area for the Nationwide Tour. And it brings celebrities galore to this area to compete in the tournament. This year’s stars included Steve Azar, Greg Kinnear, Dennis Quaid and Kevin Sorbo. But there’s more. The weekend of golf reaches a national audience, and it gives people pushing economic development and tourism a great venue for promoting the many positive features of the Upstate. The quality of life in this region is great, and it never hurts whenever the Upstate can give others a glimpse of our area. The new alliance with this Fortune 500 company should make the BMW golf tournament even stronger for next year’s 10th anniversary.
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