Colonial’s Birdies for Charity campaign helps drive $20 million year for local charity impact

FORT WORTH, Texas - A record Birdies for Charity campaign has driven total charity impact from the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge past the $20 million mark for the first time. Leading up to the 2023 PGA TOUR event at Colonial Country Club, local non-profit groups worked to secure pledges from friends and businesses for the tournament’s annual “Birdies For Charity” campaign. Then the pros did their part by making 1,079 birdies during the championship.

The combined effort resulted in more than $19 million being raised for local organizations just from the tournament’s Birdies for Charity campaign alone. The dollars realized from this campaign are a major part of the larger final impact figure of $20.4 million generated for dozens of charities throughout this year from other tournament community service activities and initiatives, and its Fort Worth Colonial Charities, Inc. philanthropic arm.

On Thursday, tournament and Fort Worth Colonial Charities officials gathered with the 33 Birdies charities to celebrate the year’s success. “We are truly grateful to be able to support all these great charities in the Tarrant County area,” noted Colonial Tournament Chairman Jim Whitten. “Some of these organizations have partnered with us for more than 15 years, but they have been in the community even longer than that. We are proud to have a meaningful impact on their service to others.”

The 77-year-old championship has generated cash and services for more than 150 different organizations in the last three decades surpassing $200 million. The breadth of donations focuses on children and supports a variety of programs, including camp scholarships for disabled, special needs or low-income children, residency programs/services for abused, neglected and at-risk children, cultural programs/field trips for underserved students, college scholarships, educational mentoring programs, medical diagnostic and treatment services for disabled and low-income children, after school programs, support services for homeless families and more.

Military-related charities are also a significant part of the tournament’s activities. Working with Military Warriors Support Foundation, Higginbotham and Vermeer Equipment, the tournament and Fort Worth Colonial Charities have helped donate 26 homes to injured veterans since 2011. They also partnered with Lockheed Martin to send care packages overseas to soldiers annually and worked with the Rainwater Foundation to host active and retired military personnel during the tournament. This year, Colonial also worked with MorningStar Partners to host a replica Vietnam War Memorial.

Of the PGA TOUR events staging Birdies For Charity campaigns, Colonial’s $19 million figure this year is one of the largest on TOUR. Since the program’s inception locally in 2005, the annual Birdies campaign has generated more than $165 million for participating charities. As a bonus, the Birdies For Charity pledges were energized by a matching fund of $275,000 from Fort Worth Colonial Charities. Thirty-three local nonprofit organizations and their volunteers led the Birdies For Charity to success.

The Birdies groups are: