Life in the Rough» Charity

Room Nights for the Brave Giveaway

Mike Gray — Thu, 12 May 2011 01:29:46 +0000

You may have heard of Birdies for the Brave, a military outreach initiative proudly supported by the PGA TOUR that is dedicated to supporting the brave men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families.

Well, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts is teaming up to create “Room Nights for the Brave”. Beginning with the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial on May 19th through the AT&T National ending July 3rd, for every eagle made by a PGA TOUR player, Crowne Plaza will donate a room night to Birdies for the Brave, creating a bank of hotel stays. Rooms will be used to support injured veterans and military personnel participating in Birdies for the Brave activities at TPC Clubs, PGA TOUR and Champions Tour events as well as other unique golf related experiences.

Click here for a press release with full details about the program, but this section from the release kind of sums it all up for me:

In addition to Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, IHG owns a portfolio of well-recognized and respected hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites®. The “Room Nights for the Brave” hotel stays will also be valid at any other IHG family of brand hotel.

“The brave men and women in our military are separated from their families for extremely long periods of time. We’re happy to be working with the PGA TOUR and Birdies for the Brave to reunite our servicemen and women with their loved ones and to provide a place where they can spend quality time together,” said Gina LaBarre, Vice President, Brand Management, the Americas, IHG. ”As title sponsor of the prestigious Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial since 2007, the Colonial has a 65-year history of charitable giving and we’re proud to continue the tradition.”

“Being able to spend time with family members is one of the things our troops cherish most,” said former Navy SEAL Stephen Kupcha, Manager of Birdies for the Brave and all Military Outreach for the PGA TOUR. “By creating this program, IHG and Crowne Plaza are providing a great service to our military families, and creating some good-natured competition out on the course to see who can hit the most eagles and earn the most rooms for these deserving men and women.”

I’m happy that I was asked to help spread the word because veteran’s charities are something in which I believe strongly. Crowne Plaza has asked for my help and yours to spread the word about Room Nights for the Brave by sponsoring a giveaway.

I have two prizes to give away:

A Callaway X-Forged 56 degree wedge (right handed)
A prize bundle which includes: a ”Birdies for the Brave” mug, a ”Birdies for the Brave” pin, a Nike zip up jacket (size large, all burgundy), and a Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Golf Umbrella

This one will be easy. To enter, just do the following:

Tweet about this post, and/or mention it on your Facebook page. You might notice the little floating thing to the left of the post with the Twitter and Facebook buttons. Click those and spread the word about this great program.
After doing so, leave a comment on this post, letting me know that you shared it in either or both places. Be sure to leave a valid e-mail address in the form when you enter your comment. Please remember to adhere to the comment policy when entering, because only comments meeting the policy will be accepted.

In one week, I will randomly draw two winners from the entries. I will contact the winners via e-mail and will also leave a comment announcing them.

As I said, veteran’s charities are something I believe strongly in, and the PGA Tour and Crowne Plaza are doing a great thing with Room Nights for the Brave. Please help me spread the word about this cause and you’ll have a chance to win one of these cool prizes.

More information:

Birdies for the Brave
Room Nights for the Brave press release

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Disclosure

This giveaway is sponsored by Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts via the Weber Shandwick public relations agency, with the prizes being provided to the winners by Weber Shandwick. In addition, I personally was provided with some personalized golf balls and tees, as well as a gift card to Golfsmith.

Patriot Golf Day 2008

Mike Gray — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:41:33 +0000

Patriot Golf Day

It’s time again for Patriot Golf Day, an event which raised over $1 million last year to benefit families of fallen and disabled United States service men and women.

Patriot Golf day was founded by Major Dan Rooney, call sign ‘Noonan’, a pilot in the Oklahoma Air National Guard who is also a PGA professional. Unless I have my facts wrong, when I wrote about Patriot Golf Day this time last year, Maj. Rooney was a Captain, so I guess congratulations are in order for him personally as well.

The event is supported and promoted by both the United States Golf Association and the PGA of America along with several other organizations and businesses.

In case you forgot from last year (or hadn’t heard about it until now), the event is simple: visit a participating golf facility during the event and you will be asked to donate a minimum of $1. That’s all there is to it. Check the Play Golf America website for a list of participating facilities.

Maj. Dan Rooney, call sign "Noonan"

This year, proceeds will go to The Folds of Honor Foundation which was created by Maj. Rooney to provide scholarships to families of fallen and disabled service members.

The “day” is actually a long weekend, with donations being collected from Friday, August 29, through Monday September 1, so there is plenty of opportunity to participate.

If you prefer to simply make a direct donation, you can do so at The Folds of Honor Foundation website by clicking here.

I’d like to repeat word for word what I ended with last year:

On Aug. 29th – Sept. 1st (and every day, really), I ask you to remember that whatever the reason for wars, our warriors are asked to make sacrifices that we can’t even comprehend. Often, that sacrifice leaves soldiers permanently injured and in the case of the ultimate sacrifice, it leaves families with a scar that can never be healed.

This is a chance to help in a time of need. Please join me in making a donation.

Caddy for a Cure

Mike Gray — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:27:57 +0000

I wanted to help get the word out about a great golf related charity called Caddy for a Cure. Their mission, according to the website:

The mission of Caddy For A Cure, Inc. is to generate charitable funds for designated organizations while offering the opportunity to be “inside the ropes” as a caddy for a PGA TOUR player at a PGA TOUR event. We offer a one-of-a-kind professional sports fantasy while contributing to genetic disease research and education and other worthy causes and individuals.

“One of a kind” is right on. I know I’ve caught myself thinking how much I’d pay for the chance to caddy for a PGA Tour pro. Now is your chance to do it.

There are several opportunities to win an auction for the chance to caddy for a PGA Tour pro during a practice round throughout the 2008 season. Click here for the 2008 schedule.

The next event up for auction is the Verizon Heritage. Auctions are being conducted on CharityBuzz.com. You can bid for a chance to caddy for Boo Weekly, Justin Leonard, or Woody Austin during a practice round.

As if that wasn’t enough, the package includes a three-day, two-night golf vacation package at the Torreon Resort in Arizona and a package of incredible golf merchandise. The vacation and golf merchandise alone are worth well over $2000.

To top it off, for this event, Caddy for a Cure is partnering with the Wounded Warrior Project, one of my personal favorite charitable organizations.

I hope you will consider participating in the auctions to raise some much-needed money for some great charities.

If the caddy package auctions are out of your price range, you can still make a smaller donation at the Caddy for a Cure website. Even if you can’t afford to donate right now, please spread the word to every golfer you know. Let’s show how charitable the golf community can be.

Once again, you can click here for the auctions at CharityBuzz.com or click here for the Caddy for a Cure website.

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Patriot Golf Day

Mike Gray — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 23:27:52 +0000

If you’ve been watching the PGA Championship this week, then you’ve probably heard talk about Patriot Golf Day, coming up on September 1, 2007.

On September 1st, golf courses all over the United States will be asking players to add one dollar to their greens fees. The funds will go to support families of those who have become disabled or lost their lives in the line of military duty.

The event is spearheaded by Capt. Daniel Rooney an F-16 fighter pilot in the Oklahoma Air National Guard. Capt. Rooney, call sign “Noonan”, also happens to be a PGA Professional.

His Fallen Heroes Foundation is teaming with Wounded Warriors, Inc., the PGA of America and the USGA to promote the event.

Check out the Play Golf America website to see if your course is participating in the event. If your course isn’t listed, speak to someone in the pro shop to see if they’d be interested. As an alternative, you can also make a donation directly.

On September 1st (and every day, really), I ask you to remember that whatever the reason for wars, our warriors are asked to make sacrifices that we can’t even comprehend. Often, that sacrifice leaves soldiers permanently injured and in the case of the ultimate sacrifice, it leaves families with a scar that can never be healed.

This is a chance to help in a time of need. Please join me in making a donation.

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