By PAUL GIORDANO
Courier-Post Staff
EVESHAM
The golf catch word of the day is help ... like in giving and getting.
Help is giving at-risk children in Camden an opportunity for a better life than what they see and experience every day on the inner-
city streets through golf and academics.
Help is getting from the people at Subaru of America in Cherry Hill, Spalding, and Cherry Hill-based Commerce National Insurance Services, a subsidiary of Commerce Bancorp, the funds necessary to support at-risk children through a celebrity golf tournament and a celebrity golf play day.
It's also help giving and getting from people like Garry Maddox, Kerry Williams, Patrick Sheridan, George Frake, Rob Moran and Sandy Capell, along with tournament co-hosts former Phillies catcher Darren Daulton and Comcast SportsNet anchor Leslie Gudel.
Tug McGraw, John Kruk, Von Hayes, Dickie Noles, Mark Portugal, Greg Luzinski, Glenn Wilson, Bill Giles, Mike Quick, Chris Therien, Joe Watson, Bernie Parent and Rick MacLeish will be among the celebrities attending.
The giving part of the program is Youth Golf and Academics Program, a program and commitment by Maddox to help inner-city children face the challenges of today.
The academics part was a pilot program Maddox, as the then executive director, put into place as part of the LPGA Urban Youth Golf Program of Greater Atlantic City.
YGAP, in its first year, will begin in October at the New Jersey National Guard Armory on Grove Street in Cherry Hill.
``Fort the most part,'' Maddox said, ``these are single parent children who come home to an empty house because that parent is working. We define at-risk as the time a child gets out of school until the parent comes home. This is the time they can get involved in anti-social activities.''
``The children are selected for the program by the teachers in their schools," said Williams, an assistant to Maddox.
The program will begin with 60 first-graders from the Forest Hill and Parkside schools. The schools were chosen by the Camden County Freeholders and the Board of Education. YGAP has made a four-year commitment to the program. Students will meet two hours a day, Monday through Thursday.
``What we do, is give them a snack first,'' Williams said, ``like they would get at home if the parent was there. Then, half go to studies and half are instructed in golf. We will have tutors there to work on their homework and golf instructors to work with them in learning the game of golf. In addition, we will have a lending library set up because a lot of them do not have access to books.'' YGAP kicks off Aug.‚15, with the inaugural Subaru/Spalding Celebrity Golf Tournament at the Little Mill Country Club.
``This tournament is critical to us because it will give us the funding to run the program for the first year,'' Williams said.
Subaru donated $25,000 to the tournament and the program.
``Garry approached us to get involved and it was a natural fit for our reach out program, and it's in our backyard,'' said Moran, who works for Subaru of America.
``It's a really good program,'' said Capell. ``It's filling a niche. A lot of these kids are lost without a structure. So here's an opportunity not only to help them fill their academic skills, but help them with character
building. Give them something positive to be part of.''
``I talked to Sandy Capell about an opportunity to help at-risk children,'' Maddox said, ``and the conversation led to Subaru basically sponsoring the golf tournament. They made not a commitment as a title sponsor, but a commitment going forward helping us with volunteers for the program and hopefully transportation for the program. But it's forming a partnership of them choosing a cause that was worthwhile and us choosing a partner who was responsible to the community.
``We make a four-year commitment to the child and through the summer as well. Hopefully they will develop a foundation giving them the structure a parent would normally create by working with the child on homework.''
The tournament will be from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. According to tournament chairman Patrick Sheridan, there are 25 foursomes, but room for more. For information, call Sheridan at (856) 809-1776.
``The Spalding Company will custom fit everyone with shoes when they get there,'' Sheridan added. ``We're not going to have the usual post-tournament banquet, either. It's going to be more casual, more fun with eight buffet tents, an open bar, a raw bar, and live music. The tournament will be played as scramble format. A celebrity will accompany each foursome. It's the first tournament, and we want to make it right.''
Maddox picked up another $25,000 for YGAP from George E. Norcross III of the Cherry-Hill based Commerce National Insurance Services for a kind of second-day celebrity play day, teaming celebrities with corporate clients at Galloway National.
The catch golf word of the day is help .‚.‚. like in giving and getting. About the kind of help that makes a difference.
