CREATING THE NEXT TIGER WOODS

(SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.) – For the last several years, Charlie Seymour has dreamed of building a golf course for youth in an underserved area of San Bernardino. His dream now has a location and a name, the Ninth Street Golf Academy, but still needs a lot of money to become a reality.

To help him, Temple Community Outreach and Seymour’s own Adopt-A-Bike charity will hold a fundraiser 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 3 at the San Bernardino Hilton, 285 E. Hospitality Lane. The event also celebrates Seymour’s 85th birthday, a milestone he will reach just a few days earlier.

“We want his dream to be realized,” said Raymond Turner, pastor of Temple Missionary Baptist Church, which oversees Temple Community Outreach. “He is trying to bring golf to San Bernardino’s West Side, so that the many economically disadvantaged children who live there will be exposed to the sport.”

Temple Community Outreach and Adopt-A-Bike hope to raise about $2,000 with this fundraiser, Turner said. That will help with the costs of developing architectural and engineering plans for the golf course.

Another fundraiser is planned in October to help raise money for the actual construction costs.

The April fundraiser will include a banquet with entertainment. Tickets are $50 each.

Sponsorships and advertising in an event program are also available. Gold sponsorships are $5,000, and silver sponsorships are $2,500. Full-page ads are $100, half-page ads are $50 and quarter-page ads are $25.

The Ninth Street Golf Academy is the last project of many Seymour has embarked upon to help San Bernardino. Many years ago, he helped publish the Tribune Newspaper and founded his own mail shipping business.

Later he created the nationally famous Adopt-A-Bike program, and the Adopt-A-Computer program. These efforts help local youth earn bicycles and computers, luxuries many families wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford. Seymour also started the College Capable Caps program to send underserved youth to college, and the Black Fathers’ Organization, which became Westside Action Group.

For more information, contact Pastor Turner at (909) 663-0198.


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