PGA awards Air Force-related grants

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - The PGA of America, through its Growth of the Game Grant Program, has awarded two grants to programs that focus on children of men and women who serve in the U.S. Air Force.

Both the Eisenhower Junior Golf Academy, which received $8,000, and the LPGA Urban Youth Golf Program of Delaware, which received $10,400, use golf as a way to teach life skills to children whose parents are often away on active duty for months at a time.

The player development program of the Eisenhower Junior Golf Academy has been so successful that a new player development program has been established to accommodate the parents who have been asking for instruction. The program is also being implemented at Air Force bases around the country, with a goal of helping military families spend more time together through golf.

The LPGA Urban Youth Golf Program of Delaware works with at-risk children. Now in its eighth year, the program recently estab-, lished a partnership with the Dover Air Force Base. Through this relationship, the program now reaches up to 100 children of Air Force parents annually.

Since 1999, the PGA of America's grants for growth of the game and community outreach have totaled more than $20 million.