The country’s best blind golfers and New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning return this year to Guiding Eyes for the Blind’s 33rd Annual Golf Classic, held on Sunday, June 13 and 
Monday, June 14. The internationally accredited nonprofit guide dog school will hold its two-day event at Whippoorwill Club in Armonk and Mount Kisco Country Club in Mount Kisco – two of the region’s favorite and most challenging courses. Guiding Eyes for the Blind’s annual Golf Classic is a perennial favorite of businesses, the public, and media because it features a unique combination of intrepid athleticism and a champion celebrity quarterback.
The Golf Classic is Guiding Eyes’ largest annual fundraiser. The event, founded by PGA legend Ken Venturi in 1977, has raised over $7 million for the organization. Sponsorships are now being accepted at the Platinum, Gold, and Silver levels. Additional support opportunities are also available including bronze foursomes, individual play, hole sponsorship, and journal advertising.
Many businesses have already jumped on as sponsors of the 2010 charity event. Entergy, which is known for its generous community support, returns as a Golf Classic Diamond Sponsor. This year Entergy is joined by a giant in the world of consumer products and global philanthropy, PepsiCo. PepsiCo has chosen Gatorade, the leading sports drink, to represent the company as another Diamond Sponsor at the Golf Classic. PepsiCo and Guiding Eyes have developed a unique partnership based upon many shared strategies on enhancing the lives of people with different abilities, and the company’s support of its golf event is but one element in a more comprehensive relationship involving employees across both organizations.
The Journal News returns as the Golf Classic’s Presenting Sponsor.
Additional sponsors for the 33nd Annual Guiding Eyes for the Blind Golf Classic include: Platinum Sponsors: The Canine Fence Company, Hudson Valley Mechanical Contractors Association, and Kinloch Companies; Gold Sponsors: Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield and JP Morgan Chase; Silver Sponsors: Aero Hardware, Avant Business Services, Citibank, Paul Holland, Donald J. Matthews, Rolex, Skanska USA Civil Inc., The Stewart Family, and TBS Shipping.
“We are deeply grateful that Eli Manning has agreed to host our event again this year,” said Lisa Deutsch, Vice President for Marketing and Development, Guiding Eyes for the Blind. “We are also excited that sponsors have jumped on board at this early date. They tell us that this is the one charity golf event that leaves lasting memories – of meeting Eli Manning on the courses, of being challenged by our champion blind golfers, and of seeing our remarkable Guiding Eyes dogs and puppies virtually everywhere they look.”
On Sunday, June 13, Guiding Eyes presents the Corcoran Cup, the “Masters” of blind golf. Sixteen top United States Blind Golfers Association players will compete for the coveted award. Then, on the following Monday, the sponsor-support outing takes place, and the blind golfers challenge sponsors to wear blind-folds and take a shot at hitting the ball – so that they experience golf as a visually impaired person.
To find out more about sponsorship opportunities, or for general golf information, please contact Michelle Brier, Events and Marketing Manager, at 914.243.2208 or mbrier@guidingeyes.org. Photos from last year’s outing can be seen at www.guidingeyes.org/golf.
Guiding Eyes for the Blind is located at 611 Granite Springs Road in Yorktown Heights, NY. For more information, please call 914.243.2208 or visit www.guidingeyes.org.
About Guiding Eyes for the Blind
Guiding Eyes for the Blind, an internationally accredited nonprofit guide dog school, was founded in 1956 to enrich the lives of blind and visually impaired men and women by providing them with the freedom to travel safely, thereby assuring greater independence, dignity and expanded horizons of opportunity. Since that time, Guiding Eyes has become one of the foremost guide dog schools in the world, graduating more than 7,300 guide dog teams. It provides superbly bred Guiding Eyes dogs, professional training and follow-up support services to students at no cost to them and depends on contributions to fulfill its mission. The comprehensive cost of breeding, raising, preparing, training, and supporting a Guiding Eyes team is $45,000. Guiding Eyes for the Blind’s Headquarters and Training Center is located in Yorktown Heights, and the Canine Development Center is in Patterson.
