There are quite a lot of companies and sport teams that sponsor different charity actions, but most of them do it just for the extra exposure they get from these actions. But this is definitely not the case of the incredible guys from Arizona Cardinals football team – they have a tradition that goes over two decades of helping people and during all this time they managed to collect and donate over 3.5 million dollars, founding more than 250 charitable projects.
All their charity actions are done through Cardinals Charities, an organization founded by the football team back in 1990, two years after the moment when the team celebrated its centenary. Their mission statement is to support programs which aim to improve the quality of live and offer new opportunities for kids, women and any minorities from Arizona. The whole process functions like this: any non-profit organization from Arizona whose programs meet Cardinals Charities’ mission statement may apply for an annual grant, then the best programs are selected and they receive full founding from Arizona Cardinals Charities, with the only condition that at least 75% of the allocated founds should be spent within Arizona state.
Numbers look impressing, but what’s even more impressing are the stories behind these numbers, all those people that managed to get a better live because of the help they received from Arizona Cardinals football team. And let’s take a look at two real examples of such charity programs that took place in 2011.
You probably know about Cardinals Charities Celebrity Golf Classic, an annual gold competition where regular people have a chance to register and play with their idols – players and coaches of the Arizona Cardinals football team. Last year’s edition took place on December 13th at the Whirlwind Gold Course and brought together: 230 golfers, fans, players, coaches and business partners. From the funds collected at the event, Cardinals Charities and their partner Albertson’s food chain, $21,250 were donated to Ronald McDonald House, a non-profit organization offering free or very cheap accommodation for families of the kids that undergo medical treatment at Valley hospitals. That’s equivalent to 1,450 nights of free accommodation for some poor families!
Another event that took place earlier this year was “Making the Cut.” Here, the Arizona Cardinals players and cheerleaders teamed up with hair stylists from Rolf’s Salon to give selected customers and Cardinals fans, customized haircuts and hair treatments. At the end of the event a silent auction and raffle took place and more than $30,000 were collected, money that will be used in one of the future projects sponsored by Cardinals Charities.
The last event of this type took place just a few days ago, with the occasion of pre-season game against San Diego Charger when, after the game, the whole team of Arizona Cardinals went for lunch with more than 350 of their fans, managing to collect around $5,000 for some sick kids from Arizona.
