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Your donations make a difference

Have you ever wondered if First Tee — Utah is really making a difference in the lives of Utah kids? Fair question. One experience from this past year answers with an emphatic YES! But it’s not about just one kid, it’s about a whole school.

Guadalupe School in the Rose Park neighborhood of Salt Lake City serves some of the most economically and socially challenged members of our community, kids who face obstacles you and I can hardly imagine. Years ago Guadalupe School built a new facility adjacent to the 17th tee at Rose Park Golf Course. In fact, construction of the school required reconfiguration of the 17th hole.

But that proximity did not immediately translate into opportunity, much less connection.

When we first started talking with Guadalupe School Director Rich Pater about bringing First Tee — Utah programming to the kids at Guadalupe, he said something that stopped us cold.

“Our kids look out the window at that golf course,
and they don’t know they can go there.”

Let that sink in. Rose Park Golf Course is a public facility. It is open to anyone and everyone. But the kids at Guadalupe School didn’t “know they can go there.”

We soon realized that taking First Tee to Guadalupe School — and opening the gate between the school and the golf course, both literally and figuratively — was about something much bigger than golf. It was about breaking down the walls in these wonderful kids’ minds that kept them from believing that they can go anywhere their dreams, talent and hard work will take them.

First Tee Utah is the perfect battering ram to tear down that wall. And the perfect tool for building the skills for success in its place.

First Tee Utah teaches golf, so the kids are learning how to play Rose Park or any golf course. But more importantly, First Tee — Utah teaches character values such as honesty, responsibility and perseverance. And it teaches life skills such as goal setting and resilience.

But it takes time. And it takes money. And the need is now.

None of the kids at Guadalupe School are able to pay anything for the First Tee — Utah programming they receive. And there are many more deserving kids throughout Utah in that same boat.

Because of you and donors like you, and your generous support, First Tee — Utah brought our program to Guadalupe. We started to pull a few bricks from the walls in the Guadalupe School kids’ minds, to chip at the foundation of the thoughts that say “I can’t go there.”

But we have so much more to do, at Guadalupe School and around the state of Utah. The kids at Guadalupe and kids around the state are thirsting for what First Tee — Utah can bring them.

Will you help us?

A donation of $100 provides a deserving kid with 15 hours of golf, character values, and life skills instruction from our trained coaches in teams led by PGA Professionals.

A donation of $250 covers the cost of a set of junior sized and weighted clubs to help the kids have a positive and successful experience.

A donation of $500 to $1,500 provides specialized, age-appropriate developmental equipment for a whole group of young kids to get started.

A donation of $2,000 covers the cost of specialized training for one of our coaches.

A donation of $3,500 brings the values of First Tee’s programming to an after-school program in a community center or at a Title 1 school.

A donation of $5,000 brings the values of First Tee’s programming to an elementary school that will introduce hundreds of kids for several years to First Tee in their PE classes in schools.

And we know First Tee — Utah makes a difference in the kids’ lives. Independent research confirms that for kids who participate in First Tee program for three years,

• 73% reported high confidence in their ability to do well academically.
• 82% felt confident in their social skills with peers.
• 80% of teens and alumni say The First Tee helped them become a better student.
• 91% of alumni engaged in community service.
• 52% credited the program for their ability to appreciate diversity.

This is work worth doing. These are results worth investing in. Tearing down the walls in kids’ thinking and replacing them with character values and life skills to build a successful life on are worth all the time and effort and cost.