(ATLANTA, GA…(January 8, 2007) — The AT&T Classic, Atlanta’s annual stop on the PGA TOUR for the past four decades, has announced a total contribution of $1.491 million to local Atlanta charities. This total is the second highest annual figure in tournament history. The tournament has now contributed $13,877,843 to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and $16,574,588 to Atlanta charities overall.
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA), the event’s primary recipient of tournament proceeds since 1981, will receive $603,856; junior golf related programs $35,000, and other charities more than $852,347. More than $627,000 for charities other than CHOA and junior golf was generated from the Atlanta Classic Foundation’s Birdies for Charity program.
“It is so satisfying for our volunteers to know their efforts on behalf of the AT&T Classic have changed so many lives in a positive way,” said Dave Kaplan, Tournament Director of the AT&T Classic. “Giving back to the community is at the heart of the Classic and every other tournament on the PGA TOUR.”
"AT&T has a tradition of service to the community and the AT&T Classic has been a cornerstone of that support,” said David Scobey, President and CEO, AT&T Southeast. “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 $13 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 AT&T, other participating sponsors and the tireless efforts of our nearly 1,800 volunteers."
"Each year this significant contribution from the AT&T 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 2007 AT&T Classic proceeds include the Atlanta Junior Golf Association, the Georgia State Golf Association’s Yates Scholarship Fund, The First Tee-John A. White Park, the First Tee National Schools Program Gwinnett and the Project One Junior Golf Academy totaling $35,000. Donations to miscellaneous charities totaled $852,000 with the majority of that amount coming from the Birdies for Charity program.
The 2007 tournament was won by Zach Johnson who also won the event in 2004 and captured The Masters Tournament last year as well. The 2008 AT&T Classic will be played at the TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, GA, May 12 through 18. Expected to compete are Johnson, Sugarloaf resident Stewart Cink and many more of the world’s finest professional golfers.
Contact:
John Marshall
Media Director
(770) 436-2643
Joe Chandler
AT&T Corporation
(404) 927-2992
