American Red Cross Boosts Donations Through John Deere Classic Birdies for Charity Program

EAST MOLINE, Ill. (July 2, 2007) - In a Midwestern river community like the Quad Cities, the American Red Cross typically is thrown into the spotlight whenever the Mississippi exceeds its banks or when tornadoes wreak their ferocious havoc on a community.

Since 1993, the John Deere Classic Birdies for Charity program has been one way the Red Cross has raised money to help keep its Moline-based operation going.

"We raise about $4,000 annually through Birdies for Charity," said Jamie Lange, financial development coordinator for the Quad Cities branch of the ARC. "It's great to be part of the John Deere Classic. Not every Red Cross office has a PGA Tour event in its backyard."

Last year, the Quad Cities arm of the ARC was the tournament's featured charity, which helped raise more than $30,000 for the organization.

The Red Cross also has been getting more involved with the John Deere Classic in recent years. This year, it will oversee a series of youth-oriented emergency preparedness presentations in the volunteer center. Last year, it administered a youth identification program.

In addition to its more high-profile flood-and-tornado activities, the Quad Cities branch of the American Red Cross also delivers important but "under-the-radar" public safety services to the people of Scott, Muscatine, and Lousia counties in Iowa and Rock Island, Henry, and Mercer counties in Illinois. The main office is in Moline with satellite services centers in Muscatine, Ia. and Kewanee, Ill.

Among the services provided by the Red Cross are health and safety classes for adults and children; providing first aid, food, shelter, counseling, and other services to victims of fire and other disasters small and large; counseling and financial assistance to military families in crisis; organizing blood drives; providing life-saving techniques and volunteer opportunities for local high school students.

In the context of ARC's $1 million annual budget, $4,000 might not seem like much. To the contrary, says Lange.

"Four thousand dollars could help four families of four recover after a fire," said Lange. "Four thousand dollars could provide community education classes for CPR, First Aid, and Disaster Preparation classes for up to 400 people. It could help operate a disaster shelter for one week, help buy food, disaster comfort kits, or provide mental health assistance for grief of stress."

And, of course, last year's $30,000 donation provided even more.

This year, as in the past, the Red Cross will have an exhibit booth located in the Oasis hospitality area just outside the rear of the clubhouse, where it will be taking Birdies for Charity pledges for this year.

Under the Birdies for Charity program, individuals or corporations pledge a minimum of one cent per birdie made during the Wednesday pro-am and all four tournament rounds of the John Deere Classic, including playoffs, to the charity or charities of the donors choice. At the conclusion of the tournament, the total number of birdies is calculated and the Birdies office sends invoices to donors. Donors remit their checks to the Birdies office, which then distributes 100 percent of the donations directly to the designated charities.

John Deere underwrites the cost of administering the program so that 100 percent of all monies collected go to the charities.

Buick will give away a new Buick Enclave to the person who correctly guesses the exact number of birdies made during the tournament, Buick is the Official Vehicle of the John Deere Classic and is the Official Car of the PGA TOUR.

The tournament provides a 10 percent bonus to each of more than 400 participating charities through the Birdies for Charity Fund, which is made up of dollars from tournament revenue, individual donors, and the support of corporations through a new Charity Partner Program.

In 2006, the tournament's sixth year at the Tournament Players Club Deere Run, 1,974 birdies were recorded, meaning that a person who pledged one cent per birdie to a charity would contribute $19.74 to that charity. Many contributors donate to more than one charity.

For more information, please contact Kristy Ketcham, director of the Birdies for Charity program at 309-762-4653 or Jamie Lange, ARC financial development coordinator, at 309-743-2166.

The John Deere Classic is the week of July 9-15 at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois. John Senden is defending champion.