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ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANSApril 21, 2015Melissa SawyerGerald WilliamsAVONDALE, LOUISIANA SPEAKER: Thank you, everyone, for coming out today to the golf course. As we take this time to recognize two very special individuals who are making a huge difference in the lives of so many children and youth today. Zurich is a global insurer with 55,000 employees worldwide. We've been in the United States for over a hundred years, and it's a great honor to represent this company as we recognize some very special people today. Since 2011, Zurich has annually recognized leaders in New Orleans non‑profit community as part of the Zurich Classic golf tournament. This is our 10th Anniversary sponsoring the Zurich Classic, and we're proud that we've stood by New Orleans through the devastation of Katrina and in the recovery and rebuilding efforts that continue today. The Zurich Classic Community Impact Award honors individuals who are actively involved with the Fore!Kids Foundation charities and who demonstrate three critical qualities: Number one, leadership that inspires others and encourages collaboration and team work. Two, a commitment to achieving goals while overcoming obstacles and meeting challenges, and the third criteria is the ability to make an impact on the community and lead others to positive change. Today, we have two very special people we'd like to recognize. I'd like to first recognize Melissa Sawyer. Our first recipient is Melissa Sawyer, Co‑Founder and Executive Director of the Youth Empowerment Project. She helped launch the organization in the year 2004, and has guided it to become the largest organization assisting young people returning to New Orleans from juvenile justice facilities. The youth empowerment program earned national recognition for implementing programs that meet the critical needs of the city's at‑risk youth, including prevention, intervention, educational and work‑force training services. In 2014 the organization assisted over 1100 underserved, court‑involved, and out‑of‑school New Orleans kids through seven local facilities. Melissa has been a critical influence on these boys and girls by helping them strengthen ties to family and community. Her commitment is tireless. In addition to her work with the Youth Empowerment Project, Melissa wears many hats in the community. To name a few, she is a member of the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice's Southeast Regional Advisory Committee, the New Orleans Crime Coalition, the New Orleans Children and Youth Planning Board, and the Greater New Orleans Next Gen Council. Melissa also is a winner of the James G. Wright McGill Alumnus Award in 2009 and is one of Gambits 40 Under 40 New Orleans in 2007. She seems to have done it all. Please join me in congratulating Melissa Sawyer on her tremendous achievements. MELISSA SAWYER: Thank you so much. This is such a humbling opportunity, and I'm so grateful to be an award recipient. There are so many people who have really stepped up after Hurricane Katrina to really make our city a better one and a safer one for the children, and young people and for the folks who are back. Again, I can't think of a nicer way to commemorate our tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with a gift and honor like this. Honestly, this is an award that I want to share with so many others who are in the community that are doing so much of the good work that is has really helped lead to the rebuilding of our community. The Fore!Kids Foundation and Zurich have been so committed and the generosity has been instrumental in terms of the rebuilding of our community. And I have to say without philanthropic investment and without people who stepped up and recognized that we needed help then, we still need help now. We still need to keep supporting our children, and it's opportunities like this to really raise awareness about the challenges in our community, but also how much you all have done and how much the Fore!Kids Foundation has done to ensure that we've been catalysts for change. And we continue to empower young people to strengthen their ability to be productive and contributing members of our community. So, again, I accept this with an extreme amount of gratitude and with humility and share it with all of my other colleagues in the community who are doing really important work. But, again, we couldn't do it without the support of you all. So thank you so much. SPEAKER: Our second recipient of the 2015 Zurich Classic Community Impact Award is Gerald Williams, a Co‑Founder and CEO of Directed Initiatives for Youth, also known as Excite AllStars. After overcoming the loss of their home and all of their possessions during Hurricane Katrina, Gerald and his wife Penny launched their organization in 2007 to improve the lives of the New Orleans youth through summer programs, year‑round enrichment opportunities and athletics. Since the organization began, the number of participants has increased from 25 to 200, with another 100 kids currently on a weight list. Gerald's mission is to help kids discover and develop the values that define true victory in the game of life. He says the right programs must utilize a holistic approach that helps our youth find their greatness from the inside out. His vision is extraordinary. Gerald's involvement in the New Orleans community is vast. He's an ordained minister who serves as pastor of the Church at New Orleans East, and spends time as an assistant high school basketball coach and middle school baseball coach. He is certified as a youth sports administrator by the National Alliance For Youth Sports. Gerald has also worked as an advertising and marketing professional for over 25 years. His contributions are immeasurable. Please congratulate Gerald Williams. GERALD WILLIAMS: As Melissa said so eloquently, this is truly a humbling experience to sit before you today to receive this award on behalf of so many who have made it possible. I would first want to thank my wife and Co‑Founder, Penny, who is the heart and soul of what we do and inspires me daily and strives for us to continue to get better at what we do every day. I'm blessed to have both of my sons participate in our programming as well as an incredible staff and group of volunteers that will lighten the load, if you will, on a day‑to‑day basis and make it possible for us to make an impact on young people. We have program partners as well, such as Zurich and the Fore!Kids Foundation, Darrah Schaefer and David Perlis, and Ross Miller, and Paul Fisher, those guys do an incredible job of undergirding us and strengthening us to make an impact with the community. Our partnership with First Tee, with U.S. Soccer Foundation, and the New Orleans Recreational Department make it possible for us to make a great impact in our community. But it's all about the kids. As it was just mentioned, it's about helping kids find their greatness. We believe there is a unique greatness in every child, and that our mission is to help them identify that greatness, to nurture it, and to help them give it out to the world as they grow. So we're on a mission to do that, and support by organizations such as this make it possible for us. So with that, we are very grateful and thankful for this opportunity and to be recognized for the small part that we do in making a difference. Thank you. SPEAKER: Thank you. It's a great honor to recognize both Melissa and Gerald for the impact they're making in the New Orleans community. It's just another example of why the Zurich Classic is important to us. The charity component of the Zurich Classic is immeasurable, and it helps make this a better, safer, and more resilient community. We're so proud to be able to recognize Melissa and Gerald with the Community Impact Award. In addition to your individual awards, we'll be providing you with a check for $10,000 to your individual charities on behalf of all of your great work and the employees at Zurich. MELISSA SAWYER: Thank you so much. GERALD WILLIAMS: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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