Second Helpings named 2018 PGA TOUR Charity of the Year

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA– The PGA TOUR announced today that Second Helpings, a Hilton Head Island-based non-profit beneficiary of the RBC Heritage, has been named the 2018 PGA TOUR Charity of the Year.

With a mission of alleviating hunger by excelling in the ongoing development and management of a distribution channel between food donors and charitable food providers, Second Helpings is doing its part to help end hunger in South Carolina. Specifically, Second Helpings rescues food that would be discarded by grocery or other stores and distributes it to agencies and churches, who in return serve the needy and challenged in the South Carolina Lowcountry area. Since its formation in 1992, Second Helpings has distributed over 30 million pounds of food to the needy.

“Everyone at the RBC Heritage and Heritage Classic Foundation is proud to be associated with a charity like Second Helpings,” said Heritage Classic Foundation President Steve Wilmot. “They fill an important role in our community by striving to eliminate hunger in the Lowcountry. Each tournament on the PGA TOUR supports important non-profits, so it is a great achievement to be recognized among all the worthy nominees.”

Since its inception in 1987, the RBC Heritage and Heritage Classic Foundation have made a charitable impact of $39 million, with $1.6 million generated in 2018. Tournament proceeds benefit a variety of local charitable organizations that impact those directly on Hilton Head Island and the Lowcountry, like Second Helpings, which collects food seven days a week and distributes it to neighbors in need.

The award comes with a $30,000 grant from the PGA TOUR to assist Second Helpings, which will be utilized to further help its efforts to combat hunger in South Carolina. The grant may be used to bolster Second Helpings’ recently-launched Healthy Food Initiative which supplements donations with fresh produce and proteins.

"On behalf of the Second Helpings board and the 320 volunteers who work tirelessly to rescue food that feeds 45,000 people weekly, we are so humbled by this amazing award," said Lili Coleman, Executive Director of Second Helpings. "We have over 30 grocery partners that make our mission possible. This award recognizes them for their food donations. It also recognizes 60 agencies and their volunteers who provide groceries to those in need living in Beaufort, Jasper and Hampton counties. Thank you so much for helping us build awareness of food rescue and food insecurity.”

“The face of poverty has changed and so has its address,” said Coleman. “It's your neighbors; the working poor family, the elderly who are homebound, the school-age children with no food on the weekend, the men and women who have temporarily lost their jobs and the mentally and physically disabled. Building awareness is the first step in eradicating hunger in our community. This award will do just that.”

PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions and Web.com Tour tournaments support a range of charities and causes. With the support of more than 100,000 volunteers annually, and the vast majority of its tournaments structured as non-profits, the PGA TOUR is able to assist approximately 3,000 charities each year. In 2017 alone, the PGA TOUR and its tournaments made a charitable impact of $181 million, bringing the all-time total generated for charity to $2.65 billion.

The 2019 RBC Heritage, won this year by Satoshi Kodaira, will be held April 18-21 at Harbour Town Golf Links.