(ORLANDO, FL) – The ANNIKA Foundation – golf Hall-of-Famer Annika Sorenstam’s charitable organization – has partnered with the Sun SafeTee program to help promote sun protection education and skin cancer awareness to golfers.
Sun SafeTee program initiatives include hosting educational seminars, distributing sunscreen samples and sun protection literature, and offering informational hand-outs to golf tournament attendees. Skin cancer screenings are also made available to members of allied partner associations like The First Tee, American Junior Golf Association (AJGA), Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and Southern California Golf Association (SCGA).
Program representatives will be invited to speak with ANNIKA Invitational competitors about how junior golfers can reduce their risks of skin cancer and premature aging. Sun protection literature will be posted on www.annikafoundation.org and distributed at the Foundation’s global schedule of junior tournaments as well as at the ANNIKA Academy, Annika’s state-of-the-art golf instruction facility at Reunion Resort in Orlando, Fla. Annika will also tape a video testimonial for Sun SafeTee to use on its website, www.sunsafetee.org.
“We’re honored to forge a relationship with Annika and her Foundation, as she is one of golf’s greatest and most-respected champions,” says Sun SafeTee founder Mark Wishner, an avid golfer and skin cancer survivor. “The ANNIKA Foundation’s mission to help children live healthy, active lifestyles is a tenet shared by our program as well.”
“The Sun SafeTee program’s focus on junior and collegiate golfers ideally complements the holistic approach we take to help them reach their full potential on and off the course,” says Tommy Tangtiphaiboontana, Global Golf Director of the ANNIKA Foundation. “Protection from the sun’s UV rays is vitally important to golfers given they have a higher risk of developing skin cancer due to the amount of time they spend outdoors.”
This year 3 million-plus skin cancers will be diagnosed in the United States, more than breast cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer combined. Although skin cancer is the most preventable form of the disease, approximately 12,000 people die from melanoma (the most virulent type) annually.
About Sun SafeTee
The Sun SafeTee Program is a 501(c)(3) non-profit sun protection and skin cancer awareness program designed specifically for the golf community. The program provides educational seminars to golf professionals and the public and distributes sun protection information and sunscreen samples at various golf events. The organization focuses on Junior and Collegiate golfers and is also a partner with The First Tee, the Golf Coaches Association of America and the National Golf Coaches Association and the American Junior Golf Association. The organization also has the endorsement of the public health initiative Doctors Orders: Play Golf. To learn more about The Sun SafeTee Program or to make a tax deductible donation visit www.sunsafetee.org.
About the ANNIKA Foundation
Annika created the ANNIKA Foundation (www.annikafoundation.org) as a way to teach children the importance of living a healthy, active lifestyle through fitness and nutrition, and offer aspiring junior golfers opportunities to pursue their dreams. The Foundation has partnered with key organizations to promote healthy, active lifestyles for children, including SPARK, Florida Hospital for Children in support of its Healthy 100 Kids initiative and The First Tee in development of the Nine Healthy Habits curriculum for children.
It annually conducts four major golf events for aspiring junior girls, including an award-winning AJGA tournament, ANNIKA Invitational at Reunion Resort in Orlando, Fla.; the ANNIKA Invitational at Mission Hills, the first all-girls junior tournament in China; the ANNIKA Invitational in Europe; and the ANNIKA Cup, a team event for the top juniors in Sweden. The Foundation awards SPARK grants to schools, is a financial supporter of Healthy 100 Kids and has endowed an ACE scholarship with the AJGA. Other key initiatives include ANNIKA Junior Day, the ANNIKA Inspiration Award and scholarships for aspiring Swedish juniors.
Contact:
Shane Sharp
Buffalo Communications
704.519.8381 (cell)
ssharp@buffalocommunications.com
www.buffalocommunications.com
Stephen Reynolds
Buffalo Communications
703.891.3509
sreynolds@buffalocommunications.com
