Thank You, NFL Alumni!

Starfish Initiative will be a Beneficiary in October’s Charity Golf Classic.

August 21, 2009 – We are excited to share the news that the NFL Alumni Indianapolis Chapter has named Starfish Initiative a recipient charity for its 2009 Charity Golf Classic to be held Monday, October 5, 2009, at Purgatory Golf Course in Noblesville.

Starfish is a good match for the NFL Alumni group whose mission is Caring for Kids. “We’re happy to include Starfish Initiative as one of the charities the Golf Classic will benefit this year,” said event coordinator and former NFL offensive lineman Bill Schultz. You may remember Bill with the Indianapolis Colts from 1990-93. “We have Tony Dungy’s All Pro Dad this year, too.”

“Starfish Initiative is working hard to benefit Indianapolis and central Indiana by working with low-income kids who are getting good grades,” Bill continued. “I understand that Starfish is the only organization of its kind in the country that pairs high school students with one-on-one mentors for all four years of high school. And, of course, there are many other programs at Starfish to get the kids ready for college and comfortable with the idea that they will, in fact, go to college and graduate. The hope is that those kids graduate high school prepared for college – not only with the grades – but knowing a little more about what college is really going to be like on a day-to-day basis.”

Not only is the pairing of the NFL Alumni with Starfish a good mission match, but the timing couldn’t be better.

“This is our first year to include Starfish Initiative as a benefiting charity,” said Bill, “and the timing is perfect. Marion County’s high school graduation rates need a lot of help, and Starfish Initiative attacks that problem head-on.”

Joyce Johnson, Executive Director of Starfish, understands the significance of the honor. “So much has been written and said lately about the embarrassing state of Indianapolis’ high school graduation rate. A recent study ranked Indianapolis 50th of the largest 50 cities in the country in terms of high school graduation rate. The very bottom of the list. We are thrilled that a group as influential as the NFL Alumni – and as charitable – chose to recognize that Starfish Initiative really helps the youth of central Indiana. It means so much.”

“I’ve been hearing good things about the work they’re doing at Starfish,” Bill added. “When I visited them this summer during their rooftop mentor-recruitment campaign, I learned that all the seniors in the program – every one of them – had been accepted to the college they wanted.”

Bill immediately accepted our invitation to spend some time on our roof during our 48-hour recruitment and awareness campaign this summer. His visit fell somewhere in the middle of visits from Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, Indiana’s First Lady Cheri Daniels, ISO Associate Conductor Sean Newhouse, and other non-profit and for-profit movers and shakers, showing the broad range of community support for Starfish.

Joyce summarized how grateful we are to be named a recipient charity of the NFL Alumni. “It couldn’t come at a better time for our kids and for central Indiana.” She smiled and concluded, “If only I were a better golfer….”