Making a Difference through Golf

By: Matthew
Matthew is a participant in Allowance for Good's 2015 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy class in the Elmhurst location. 

AfG's Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy Elmurst students.

For the past seven years I have been involved with an organization called Revelation Golf. This group was founded by two women, one of whom is a trained physical therapist and the other of whom is a former professional golfer and golf coach. They started this group to help people with physical disabilities learn the game of golf. This includes children with physical limitations (like myself) as well as veterans who have been injured. In most cases the people with whom they work are not able to play sports the way that able-bodied people do but golf is something that many people can figure out how to do. Because of the background of the two women (therapy and golf) they can usually figure out a way to teach their participants how to work around their limitations and hit the golf ball pretty well.

The two women who run the organization are an inspiration to me. They both could've made a lot more money doing what they were trained to do (therapy and golf coaching) but have chosen to sacrifice their own self-interest in order to help others. The obvious joy on their faces when their participants do well on the golf course is great to see. They both took a big risk in their lives by deciding to do what they were passionate about but I think they're glad that they made the choice that they did.

In the past, I've helped this organization by volunteering at their annual golf outings, being featured in their promotional literature and videos, and giving speeches at various events.  Also, my mom is on the board of directors and both my mom and dad have been involved in helping to organize the annual golf outing fundraiser. Over the years it's been interesting to see how the organization has changed and it's been wonderful to see how many hundreds of people have been helped.

After all these years, it really feels like the women who run this organization have become part of our family and I think they would say that we're part of their family as well. Going forward I hope to be able to stay involved with them in whatever capacity they need me. Teaching disabled people to play golf may seem like a small, somewhat unimportant thing, but I can attest to the fact that it makes a big difference by allowing people to be able to do something outside with their friends and family and by helping people become more active in their community. It’s also a lot of fun! They truly are an inspiration and I hope to stay involved so that we can continue helping people with disabilities to play the great game of golf and more importantly to learn that that their physical limitations should not prevent them from doing something they want to do.