Crowne Plaza Invitational raises record $9 million for charities

Area charities will receive a record $9 million from the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial to help babies grow, children read and young people attend college.

A portion of the money was awarded through grants to 63 charities Tuesday during the annual Colonial Country Club Charities Holiday Breakfast.

“It gives us an opportunity to share dollars that have been made through our golf tournament and be able to bless people,” said 2014 Colonial Country Club President Chuck Scherer.

The event caps a yearlong fundraising effort.

“We take the charitable dollars and make sure they stay in the community and benefit this great city of Fort Worth,” Scherer said.

The money raised for charity exceeded the $6.5 million prize purse for the tournament, officials said.

The Birdies for Charity component of the fundraising brought in $7.9 million. As part of that program, 31 local nonprofit organizations solicited pledges from people and organizations for every birdie made during the 2014 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. The pledges were matched with $200,000 from Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, the Colonial Country Club and other supporting companies.

The tournament has generated cash and services worth $70 million over the last two decades, for more than 150 organizations. Donations focus on children and support various programs, including camp scholarships for special-needs or low-income kids, educational mentoring programs and after-school programs.

Lena Pope received a $3,000 grant to help promote reading at the organization’s Chapel Hill Academy. The academy is an open-enrollment public charter school.

“The Colonial is special to everyone in the community because they actually give their charitable dollars back into the community that obviously helped create and support the tournament,” said Todd Landry, executive director of Lena Pope.

Paige Pate, president of the Junior League of Fort Worth, said her organization received a little more than $2,000 to help with its Junior MINTS program, an acronym for Mentoring, Inspiring, Nurturing, Tutoring and Supporting.

Pate said the program partners with the Fort Worth school district to provide volunteers who focus on mentoring and reading. The money will help pay for supplies and meet children’s basic needs.

“We are looking to add clothing closets at each of the schools,” Pate said.

The tournament surpassed the million-dollar mark in giving in 1998. This is the third consecutive year it has raised more than $7 million.

This story was originally published December 9, 2014 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Crowne Plaza Invitational raises record $9 million for charities."