Athletics-focused charitable foundation joins hospital as Memorial Tournament beneficiary

Courtesy of Memorial Tournament presented by Workday

By Garth Bishop, Cityscene Columbus

Thanks to a partnership with a brand-new beneficiary, the 2022 Memorial Tournament’s charitable arm will be bringing food, athletics and educational opportunities to local children in need.

The tournament, which takes place May 30-June 5 at the Muirfield Village Golf Club, will now make charitable contributions to Eat. Learn. Play., a foundation established in 2019 by NBA star Stephen Curry and his entrepreneur/author wife, Ayesha.

Since its inception in 1976, the Memorial Tournament has designated Nationwide Children’s Hospital as its charitable beneficiary, raising over $25 million for the hospital in that time. Nationwide Children’s will continue to benefit in 2022 and beyond, but the tournament will now direct additional charitable proceeds to Eat. Learn. Play.

The proceeds going to Eat. Learn. Play. are in addition to the tournament’s previous charitable giving. Nationwide Children’s will not receive any less money than it has in years past.

Tournament details are accurate as of early March. Organizers may change some details before the 2022 Memorial Tournament begins.

The additional beneficiary comes thanks to an agreement with a new presenting sponsor, finance and human resources enterprise software company Workday. That partnership will last for 10 years. Nationwide had previously served as presenting sponsor since 2011.

Workday has had a relationship with Eat. Learn. Play. since its formation, so it only made sense for the company to make the foundation part of its involvement in the tournament.

“(Workday has) also integrated Eat. Learn. Play. into their participation in PGA Tour events and at conferences they sponsor throughout the country,” says the foundation’s CEO and President Chris Helfrich. “And their great team of employees are regular volunteers at Eat. Learn. Play. events in the community.”

As its name suggests, Eat. Learn. Play. focuses its efforts for children on three specific areas:

• Providing meals to combat food insecurity

• Promoting reading to close literacy gaps

• Improving access to and understanding of sports, offering opportunities for exercise and recreation

“We believe that physical activity, including participation in youth sports and having access to safe places to play and be active, is a critical part of childhood development and offers numerous physical, mental, social-emotional and academic benefits to young people,” Helfrich says. “The Memorial Tournament presented by Workday gives us a unique platform to have these conversations with those who need to hear it.”

Though the foundation’s current efforts largely center on Oakland – where Stephen Curry’s team, the Golden State Warriors, plays – it will be bringing its programming to underserved areas of greater Columbus thanks to its partnership with the tournament and Nationwide Children’s. Helfrich expects programs will be able to reach thousands of children and families in the first year alone.

“That we can team up to work with Nationwide Children’s Hospital to work on food security, literacy and play equity issues in Columbus is something we’re very excited about,” Helfrich says.

The foundation will be present at the tournament to entertain and educate attendees on Eat. Learn. Play. and its mission.

The Memorial Tournament connected with Workday when the company put its name on two back-to-back golf tournaments at Muirfield Village Golf Club in 2020. Though based in San Francisco, Workday has a significant presence in central Ohio thanks to some big clients in the area, so its leadership was familiar with the tournament.

Aneel Bhusri, co-founder and co-CEO of Workday, has expressed admiration of the tournament for its support of Nationwide Children’s and important community causes. He says those commitments mirror Workday’s work with charitable causes and community improvement. The Memorial Tournament offered an opportunity for Workday to do even more.

“It was a very natural conversation,” says tournament Executive Director Dan Sullivan. “They see a lot of benefit in investing in the game of golf via the Memorial Tournament.”

A Return to Form

While the involvement of Workday and Eat. Learn. Play. is new for this year’s tournament, many of the headlines of the 2022 tournament are about what’s not new. In response to COVID-19, organizers had to pare back or eliminate many components of what people most associate with the Memorial Tournament. And this year, those components are back – all of them.

“Every event that we had to postpone because of the inability to bring people together will be back, big and small, and we’re pretty excited about it,” Sullivan says.

Among the signature tournament events that will be fully restored in 2022 are:

The Legends Luncheon, an event featuring top sports names including tournament founder Jack Nicklaus and his wife, Barbara. The luncheon, which benefits Nationwide Children’s, includes the presentation of the Nicklaus Youth Spirit Award to an inspiring Nationwide Children’s patient or family. After going virtual in 2020 and 2021, the Legends Luncheon will take place in person at the Archie M. Griffin Grand Ballroom at the Ohio Union on April 13, with golf legend Ben Crenshaw as a special guest.

The Benefit Concert returns with country star Eric Church (“Drink in my Hand,” “Record Year”) performing at KEMBA Live (formerly Express Live). Past headliners have included Ben Folds, Sheryl Crow and Kenny Chesney. Proceeds benefit the Memorial Tournament Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Nationwide Children’s. There was no concert in 2020 or 2021.

The Fore! Miler, a tournament week four-mile road race. The race was canceled in 2020 and scaled back in 2021, but it will be back in full force on May 26.

Fore!Fest, a two-day music festival and street party at Bridge Park. This relatively new event had to be canceled in 2020 and 2021, but it’s coming back June 4 and 5 this year.

“The things we do, the events that we host for Nationwide Children’s, are extremely special,” Sullivan says.

Beyond the big events, a lot of the creature comforts of tournaments past will return as well, Sullivan says. There were no bleachers for tournament week the past two years, but they’ll be back this year. Tournament venues such as the Golden Bear Club and Champions Pavilion will be open and at full capacity. The party recognizing tournament volunteers will be on the Friday night of tournament week, as it had been for many years up until 2020.

Tournament organizers are in the business of bringing people together, Sullivan says, so the opportunity to do so again in 2022 is welcome.

Garth Bishop is a contributing editor at CityScene Media Group.

Read the full article here | SOURCE: CityScene Columbus