By Gerald White
Russell Life Skills and Reading Foundation
All Participants
I recently traveled to South Florida to participate in the 17th Annual Links for Literacy Celebrity Golf Classic benefiting the Russell Education Foundation. For the past five years, I have enjoyed supporting and playing in this tournament, however, this year I was a little more excited. Jacaranda Country Club hosted the event. Nestled in the heart of Broward County in Plantation, Florida the semi-private golf facility features 36 pristine and picturesque holes of golf. You have your choice of two four-star rated championship courses: East Course or West Course. You can’t go wrong. I played the longer East Course several years ago, and it “beat me up pretty good.” This time around I took a different approach; and it was, all thanks to the tournaments best ball scramble format. The course was well marked, challenging and an overall wonderful golfing experience. Even more incredible, was the fact that each golfer was there to not only play golf but also to support an important cause. In a day and age when few things endure for two decades, Twan Russell’s, Russell Education Foundation (REF) celebrates its twentieth anniversary. The Foundation was established in 1998, by the former University of Miami and Miami Dolphin’s linebacker, Twan Russell, and his late mother, Corliss. Corliss, a middle-school teacher with a huge heart for helping struggling children, launched the Russell Life 14
Skills and Reading Foundation afterschool program to focus solely on reading. The program’s purpose is to equip children for academic success. Today REF continues to provide after school and summer learning services to over 1,000 kindergarten – 5th-grade students in 11 locations throughout Broward and MiamiDade counties. Priority is given to those children attending a school on the Priority Title 1 School List, where children qualify for Free or Reduced Lunch. The Russell Reading Rooms pro-
vide safe, engaging environments that motivate and inspire learning outside of the regular school day. Russell Reading Rooms combine academic enrichment, cultural, and recreation activities to guide learning, as well as, engage children in wholesome activities. For more information on the Russell Education Foundation and sponsoring the Links for Literacy Celebrity Golf Classic visit www.russelleducationfoundation.com or email events@ russelleducationfoundation.com
Sponsors Golf Central • Volume 19, Issue 3