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FRY'S ELECTRONICS OPENOctober 19, 2007Ted PurdySCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA Q. Tell us how long you've been doing this. TED PURDY: The charity is called a Stepping Stone Foundation. It's located here in Phoenix, south Phoenix. And the way I got involved was the founder of Stepping Stone, he found it about 20 years ago, I guy named Phil Smith, he's a resident of Moon Valley where I grew up. He asked my wife to come down and just volunteer at the charity and she came back and said this is a great cause. They educate 4-year-old basically poverty-level Hispanic kids that are coming from México, uneducated. We educate the 4-year-old and but mandatory mother or father involvement, so we educate the mother, as well, with parenting skills and give them an ESL degree and a GED or just some formal education. And the graduations, the mothers get a certificate for their ESL degree or their parenting classes or whatever at the end of the year, and they fill up gymnasium, and all of the grandparents come and all of the siblings come and everybody is dressed in their Sunday best. Usually it's the highest education that anybody in their family has achieved. So it picks up the mother, usually the mother, sometimes the father, and it also really gets those kids off to a good start. Q. Obviously out here, the goal is to win on the golf course, but I guess it really puts things into perspective when you see the kids and the moms or dads; that's kind of like the ultimate victory, would that be a fair statement? TED PURDY: Yeah, I've got the greatest occupation in the world. I get to come to the golf course and play for money, and a lot of money thanks to the PGA TOUR and their sponsors. Yeah, giving back I think is a whole part of the TOUR in general I think. We're unlike any other professional sport, and I think we're going to continue. And each player from Kirk Triplett who just walked by, to Tom Pernice there has their own special cause that they support. Q. How many years will this be? TED PURDY: This will be my third year, participation until the tournament. The Stepping Stone foundation's budget for the year is $500,000 and last year we did over a $100,000 just in that one-day event. Hopefully if we get enough excitement, enthusiasm and people coming out on Monday, they can still sign up at TedPurdy.com. Q. Is it open to pretty much anybody? TED PURDY: Yeah, it's $1,000 a person, so anybody with a thousand bucks, we'll pair them up. It's teams of three, so it will be a threesome scramble. But, you know, the big thing is the awareness that we bring to Stepping Stone. Q. How do these families get involved with the program? TED PURDY: The directors and the teachers actually go out and actively recruit kids and families, and it's so popular in the Hispanic community that now there's a waiting list, and we can't accommodate every child. Q. But a set number of children every year? TED PURDY: Yeah, each classroom is maxed at 30 parents and 30 children. Q. And as of right now there's a waiting list? TED PURDY: Yeah, each year there's a waiting list and our directors have to go -- it's like getting into college, getting into preschool. They have got to selectively pick their qualified people. And pretty much they pick the people that are most in need, most at risk. Q. What is your wife's name? TED PURDY: My wife's name is Arlene. My brother, Jaime, is running the tournament. His name is Jim. My dad is Jim, as well. Q. How nice is it to be here this week playing, and you get to sleep in your own bed? TED PURDY: Yeah, it's good to be home. I think Phoenix is the greatest place on earth. Q. Does it rotate each year, different courses, your tournament? TED PURDY: It's been here the last few years. Q. And this is a Phoenix-based, non-profit? TED PURDY: Yeah, our schools are tied into the public school systems into south Phoenix. I don't have the exact stats, but I think we've got three or four different schools. And I know that the funds that we raised helped, you know, one school. So paid for one school of about 30 kids, or 20 kids or so. Q. Do you know how full it is so far? Are you having pretty good reception? TED PURDY: Yeah, we've got 200 now. We're using both courses here at Grayhawk. Last year we used one course, and we had too many people on one course and it took too much time. We're going to use both courses this year, and we have around 200 people signed up. You know, we could take up to 600. End of FastScripts |
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