For years THE PLAYERS Championship has looked to do its part in honoring and respecting the sacrifices made by local military veterans.
Now thanks to the creation of the #Match4Military grant program, the tournament will be taking it a step further.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic affected last year’s attendance of THE PLAYERS and therefore the revenue brought in, they still intended to make sure the local veterans’ outfits were not lost in the shuffle.
“We had limited resources from this past year’s tournament, but we wanted to focus on the military,” past tournament chairman Murray Beard said. “That’s the reason we decided to do this matching grant program, in order to focus on them.”
THE PLAYERS extended an invitation to military-and veteran-serving organizations in Northeast Florida to request funding for their programs and services.
“We do a series of evaluations of the different charities around,” 2022 Tournament Chairman Matt Welch said.
The #Match4Military grants will be used to fund a variety of programming, capital projects and/or general operating support at each of the benefitting organizations.
Below is a list of the 20 military organizations that are part of the grant program:
■ American Red Cross of Northeast Florida
■ Blue Star Families – Jacksonville
■ City of Jacksonville – Military Affairs and Veterans Department
■ Five STAR Veterans, Inc.
■ Jacksonville Speech and Hearing Center
■ Jacksonville University
■ Jacksonville Veterans Chamber of Commerce
■ Joseph Finegan Elementary School (soon to be Anchor Academy)
■ K9s For Warriors
■ Museum of Science and History
■ Northeast Florida Women Veterans
■ Operation New Uniform
■ Patriot Services Group, Inc.
■ Supporters of the Jacksonville National Cemetery
■ The Fire Watch Project, Inc.
■ United Services Operation (USO)
■ Veteran Garden Project of St. Augustine
■ Veterans Council of St. Johns County
■ Wounded Warrior Project
■ Yoga 4 Change
According to Welch, an overwhelming number of organizations took part in the application process, but they had to pair it down to 20 to make sure each recipient receives a helpful amount of money.
The program’s campaign raised $140,000, which will be donated across the 20 organizations.
“It was incredible to see the entire community come together to support and honor our service members, veterans and their families through this #Match4Military campaign,” said Jared Rice, Executive Director of THE PLAYERS. “Since THE PLAYERS made its permanent home in Northeast Florida in 1977, our team and organization have made it a key priority to integrate military appreciation initiatives and activities into the fabric of this championship, and it was so inspiring to join forces this year to support our military heroes in this unique way.”
The portion of the program where grants get handed out got underway when Welch, Beard and 2022 tournament vice chairman Lee Nimnicht presented K9s For Warriors CEO Rory Diamond with a $15,000 check during the business’s groundbreaking ceremony for its Campus for K9 Operations facility on Aug. 4.
“We are incredibly grateful to THE PLAYERS Championship for selecting K9s For Warriors as a #Match4Military grant recipient,” K9s For Warriors CEO Rory Diamond said. “This generous gift will help support our new Campus for K9 Operations here in Ponte Vedra and also will allow us to impact the lives of veterans from all eras by pairing them with a service dog.”
