Words Alive named 2022-23 PGA TOUR Charity of the Year

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The PGA TOUR announced Friday that Words Alive, a non-profit beneficiary of the Farmers Insurance Open, has been named the 2022-23 PGA TOUR Charity of the Year. The organization was recently surprised with the honor.

Words Alive was founded in 1999 on the principle that reading is fundamental to all aspects of life and is vital to becoming a productive member of society. Its research-based programs are intended to ignite a love of reading by connecting youth and families with trained volunteers and reading enrichment activities – efforts that help to bridge the gap in access to education for San Diego’s historically underserved residents.

The Century Club of San Diego, a nonprofit organization with the primary purpose of administering the Farmers Insurance Open, believes that through the giving of time, treasure and talent, they can make a lasting impact in San Diego. Words Alive has been a participant in their core charitable program, Champions for Youth, since 2019. The program provides capacity-building resources to support the long-term viability and stability of the Century Club’s community partners to enable them to address critical issues that affect us all.

“We are proud to call Words Alive a partner through our Champions for Youth program,” said Marty Gorsich, CEO of The Century Club of San Diego. “We believe that access to education and job readiness training are necessary to creating and sustaining thriving communities. Literacy is key to participating on any level in our society, and Words Alive’s programs are vital to our youth developing into lifelong learners.”

Words Alive currently connects more than 5,000 children, teens and families in the San Diego area to the power of reading each year. Through partnerships with 80-plus community partners, schools and nonprofit agencies, and with the support of nearly 1,000 volunteers from all over the world, the organization promotes and encourages reading to those facing extraordinary life circumstances, such as unstable housing, poverty, foster care and teen pregnancy.

The Charity of the Year award comes with a $30,000 grant from the PGA TOUR, which will allow Words Alive to empower trained volunteers to bring reading and stories alive for children, teens and families in San Diego’s historically underserved neighborhoods through book clubs for teens, read alouds in elementary classrooms and early literacy workshops for caregivers with young children.

“It’s not often that we, at Words Alive, find ourselves speechless, but this honor from the PGA TOUR is beyond anything we could have imagined,” said Rachael Orose, executive director of Words Alive. “Being able to read, and understand what we read, is the key to living a full, free life. This world we envision is made possible through the simple, essential and effective act of reading together – and we are deeply grateful to the PGA TOUR, the Century Club of San Diego and Farmers Insurance for their extraordinary investment to ensure we become a community of readers.”

With the support of more than 100,000 volunteers annually, the PGA TOUR assists approximately 3,000 charities each year. Virtually all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations to maximize charitable giving, and to date, tournaments across all Tours have generated more than $3.64 billion.

The Farmers Insurance Open, won in 2023 by Max Homa, will be held Jan. 24-27, 2024, at Torrey Pines Golf Course.