PCCC’s $5,000 aids Give Ozarks

Thanks to the successful Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper, three of its charities say they now have more peace of mind.

The Springfield-based Summit Preparatory School, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks, and Arc of the Ozarks shared the 2014 tournament’s final $5,000 which was placed toward Give Ozarks, a recent effort of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.

The 2014 tournament generated a record $1 million-plus and reserved its final $5,000 for the foundation’s idea, in which area charities took to social media on May 5 to generate new donors and raise awareness of their missions.

The non-profits hauled in $1,018,962, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks has announced.

Summit School received half of the PCCC amount, with Big Brothers Big Sisters receiving $1,500 and Arc of the Ozarks receiving $1,000.

“Thanks to our sponsors and golf fans, as well as the many volunteers, the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper is always delighted to assist our local charities,” Tournament Director Jerald Andrews said. “When the Community Foundation of the Ozarks approached us, we thought it would be an excellent idea because the donation could be leveraged for more dollars. That is what played out.”

Summit School, a PCCC charity the past two years, will use the additional dollars toward tuition for low-income students, Director of Development Laura Hover Skiles said.

“We scheduled a couple of (social media) posts for early in the morning, and we were basically on it from midnight to midnight,” Hover Skiles said. “We were tired, but we were so hyped up that you couldn’t go back to sleep. It was exciting.”

For Big Brothers Big Sisters, the additional PCCC dollars were part of its $16,926 raised, said Katie Davis, Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks.

The additional revenue will go toward an endowment fund, an idea that’s been in the works for years, Davis said. That gives Big Brothers Big Sisters much peace of mind.

“A lot of events we focus on are (designed) to get us through the year,” Davis said. “This helps long term.”

“It was pretty neat. It was an exciting day for us,” Davis added. “We encouraged all of our board to post and all of our staff to post.”

Arc of the Ozarks also will place the additional PCCC dollars toward an endowment fund, said Director of Development Danielle Wise.

“I stayed up 24 hours and constantly posted (to social media),” Wise said. “When they announced there was a prize hour, I just made sure we were in. We have never done anything like this, and it was very successful for us.”

The 26th annual Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper is scheduled Aug. 13-16 at Highland Springs Country Club. The tournament is a PGA Web.com Tour event that has long benefited local charities.

For example, charities are selling $25 TLC Properties Charity Sweepstakes tickets and retain the full amount of tickets they sell. A ticket guarantees entry into the four-day tournament, daily prizes such as gift cards as well as chances to win $10,000 and even a 2015 Ford Mustang.

Businesses can sponsor various aspects of the PCCC such as shuttles, the website, daily newsletter as well as pro-ams. Call the PCCC at 884-3700.

Clearly, the May 5 event was a great day. Give Ozarks registered 7,649 donations, not including individual cash donations made at Give Ozarks-related events, for about 150 non-profit agencies representing at least 46 communities within the CFO’s 58-county service region.

“In a time when daily headlines seem to trumpet bad news across the globe, it’s so refreshing to be reminded just how generous and helpful our friends and neighbors are,” CFO President Brian Fogle said.