Farr Classic charity exceeds $5 million

12/1/2006

The Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic, presented by Kroger, will pass two milestones today as it disperses $525,000 in profits from the 2006 LPGA tournament to local charities.

It marks the first time since the event's inception in 1984 that the Farr Classic realized more than $500,000 for charities in a single year. And it moved the tournament's charitable contributions past the $5 million mark.

"We are proud that we can give back to the community we call home by helping to raise more than $500,000 this year to sustain deserving charities in northwest Ohio," said Dave Brown, president and CEO of Owens Corning.

Checks in the following amounts were to be presented to 14 charities at the tournament's annual winter luncheon at Owens Corning's headquarters in downtown Toledo:

Ronald McDonald House of NW Ohio ($50,000); Big Brothers Big Sisters ($40,000); Boys & Girls Club of Toledo ($40,000); Camp Courageous ($40,000); Chance for Change ($40,000); Cullen Center for Children ($40,000); Great Lakes Center for Autism ($40,000); Lagrange Development Corporation ($40,000); Mom's House ($40,000); Sunshine Inc. ($40,000); Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Scholarship Fund ($40,000); American Lung Association ($25,000); Greater Toledo Urban League STRIVE Program ($25,000) and Toledo Minority Golf Association ($25,000).

With these donations, the Farr Classic will have contributed more than $5.3 million to 87 northwest Ohio children's charities.

Mike Burns, the 2007 Farr Classic general chairman, announced that the tournament's two annual beneficiaries, the Ronald McDonald House of NW Ohio and the Farr Classic Scholarship Fund, will be joined by the following charities in sharing next year's proceeds:

Aurora Project, CASA-CRB Volunteer Association, Children's Rights Council of NW Ohio, Diabetes Youth Services, Exchange Club Center, Family and Child Abuse Protection Center, Frederick Douglass Community Association, James C. Caldwell Community Center, St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center Hope for Families Program, and Toledo Hearing and Speech Center.

The 2007 tournament will be staged at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania on July 9-15.

- Dave Hackenberg