Look To The Stars News: Michael Strahan

Santana Plays Four Seasons Of Hope

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:36:00 -0000

Guitarist and music legend Carlos Santana gave a special live performance to 650 guests at the seventh annual Four Seasons of Hope charity gala in New York on Sunday night.

The gala, hosted by Michael Strahan, Jason Taylor, and Live With Regis and Kelly’s Regis Philbin, recognized the charitable efforts of sports, entertainment, and political celebrities, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Wayne Gretzky, Arnold Palmer, Joe Torre, Boomer Esiason, and Dan Marino. The evening, which included an auction, raised over $1.1 million for a host of children’s charities, including the Arnold Palmer Foundation, the Boomer Esiason Foundation to Benefit Cystic Fibrosis, the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation, the Dan Marino Foundation, the Jason Taylor Foundation, the Michael Strahan Foundation, the Wayne Gretzky Foundation, and the Milagro Foundation.

“It is so rewarding to be able to come out and work with a first-class organization such as Samsung on a night like this,” said Santana. “We had a great crowd and were able to raise a lot of money for the charities Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope program supports. It’s not often you get such an eclectic group of athletes and celebrities together in one room, but when you do, special things happen and we were able to help a lot of children and families in need in the process.”

Launched in 2002 by Samsung Electronics America, Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope is an innovative goodwill program dedicated to raising awareness and funds through national retail initiatives with Best Buy, Circuit City, Sears and Staples, and has raised more than $12 million for a range of children’s charities.

Charles Barkley and Buddies Tee Off For Charity

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:38:00 -0000

Written by Delinda Lombardo

Legendary athlebrities from football, baseball, basketball and hockey, gathered under the hot desert sun on June 7 and 8 to raise money and awareness for several very worthwhile causes. The Pro Sports Team Challenge Golf Tournament at the Eagle Falls Golf Club at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino (near Palm Springs, California) settled the debate as to which sport has the best golfers, while competing for a total purse of $250,000 for chairty.

Team Basketball hit the greens for the USO. Led by NBA great Charles Barkley and featuring his buddies Clyde Drexler, Jason Kidd, George Gervin and Kenny Smith, the team made every swing count in efforts to help comfort our hardworking military. While Barkley was psyched for the event, he didn’t have high expectations for his team.

“One of the highlights of my life was [when] the USO took me to Iraq, Kuwait, Dubai,” said Barkley during the event. “I got to visit with some of the troops. So it’s a great organization and, um, unfortunately we’re not going to win a lot of money for them because my team [Basketball] sucks!”

But the event wasn’t marred by the lack of golf talent, as inspiration was the forerunner of the competition.

“Many athletes, like Charles Barkley and John Elway, have spent their holidays, vacations and precious free time to thank our nation’s heroes for their daily sacrifices,” said Kathy Mejasich, the Vice President of Corporate Alliances for the USO. “The difference they make in the morale of the troops is more than just palpable, but energizing and inspiring.”

Team Basketball also spent some time with 20 year-old Brandon Akey, who was flown out from Ohio to play with the big boys after winning an online competition.

“I’m only 20 years old and this is only the second time I’ve been out of Ohio – the last time I took a trip was to Florida when I was a kid, and suddenly I’m here playing golf with these guys.” Brandon played in the Pro-Am with basketball legend, George Gervin. “He was such a good guy. Whenever we hit bad shots he was really cool and supportive, he said ‘that’s all right, we’re a team, it’s like basketball.’”

Also inspiring was Team Football, who didn’t stop grinning all weekend as they polished their putters in the hope of earning a hefty donation for Operation Kids. Led by Team Captain Drew Brees and including LaDainian Tomlinson, John Elway and Michael Strahan, the team brought style, smiles, class and sass to the event.

“I just love helping kids,” said NFL good guy Michael Strahan. “When they see any player come to spend some time with them, their faces light up and they share their hopes and ambitions and dreams with us. I can’t even begin to tell you how good it made me feel.”

Rest assured, Strahan was speaking from the heart. There wasn’t one child in attendance that the big guy didn’t stop for. In fact, all the players involved were constantly chatting with young starry-eyed kids as they tousled their hair before signing footballs, programs, posters, and even jerseys being worn by ‘soccer moms’.

Team Hockey, led by cancer survivor Mario Lemieux, chose Hockey Fights Cancer as their beneficiary. Lemieux, Brett Hull, Grant Fuhr and Pierre Larouche went into the competition with an edge, seeing as they all have notorious golf skills.

During Friday’s Pro-Am event, one lucky sweepstakes winner enjoyed a round with the big boys. Matt Lesage, who has little golf experience, was a bit nervous going into the competition when he learned he was playing with Team Hockey. “I played with Pierre Larouche in the Pro-Am,” he said, “Mario Lemieux, Pierre, Grant, all those guys were so nice. Pierre is a great guy and I’ve got nothing but good things to say about him. At first, I was a bit skeptical on how the athletes were going to act towards someone like me, not being a big golfer, but they were all class acts and they couldn’t have been nicer.”

While Lesage was hyped to play golf, he was also keen on the fact that this was for charity, “I heard Team Hockey talking about Hockey Fights Cancer, and a lot of people in my family had cancer so it made me really happy to be part of it. All these guys inspired me.”

Team Baseball captain Ozzie Smith led George Brett, Vince Coleman and Bret Saberhagen around the greens as they swung away for the Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T.) in efforts to help the families of players who have fallen on tough times.

“B.A.T. provides assistance to members of the ‘baseball family’ who are in need…We help take care of health care, medical, housing, burial, utilities, household expenses and prescriptions,” wrote Erik Nilsen of B.A.T. “It’s an honor to be nominated by Ozzie Smith, a Hall of Famer who truly understands the history of our organization.”

The big question remains though – which team brought home the first place $100,000 prize for their charity and which teams split the remaining purse? You’ll have to watch the Fox Sports Net broadcast on Saturday 6/28 and Sunday 6/29 to find out. It was a great competition, filled with lots of trash talking and love coming from the participants, but in the end all of the charities came out winners thanks to the dedication of these mighty mighty fine men.

Special celebrities lending their time to the event included Hercules star Kevin Sorbo, actor Dennis Haysbert (The Unit), Actor/producer Matthew Hatchette (The Take), and comedian Martin Short provided some comical poolside entertainment during the VIP party.

If you’d like to make a donation to any of the ProTeam charities named, you can still visit the Team Challenge website and sign up as a ProCoach – $1.00 from each participant will go to the charity of your choice.

New York Giants' Michael Strahan Hosts Charity Golf Tournament

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:30:00 -0000

Written by Delinda Lombardo

The Michael Strahan & Dreier LLP Charity Golf Tournament is set to kick off on June 29 with a gala pairings party at TAO Restaurant in midtown Manhattan, which will include a private concert featuring a Grammy Award-winning performer, and auctions to benefit abused and neglected children in the New York area and children suffering from AIDS in Africa.

“Hosting this event is a great way for us to give back and help improve the lives of children,” stated Mr. Strahan. “Helping kids is the most important thing about this event.”

Proceeds from this year’s auction of sports memorabilia and the celebrity golf tournament will benefit Children’s Rights, a watchdog organization that advocates on behalf of abused and neglected children in the United States, and Keep A Child Alive, which provides medical care and life-saving drugs for African children suffering from AIDS.

“Our tournament’s mission is to make a significant difference in the lives of abused, disadvantaged and sick children,” stated Marc S. Dreier, the founder and managing partner of Dreier LLP. “This tournament allows us to both alleviate suffering and to provide children with a chance for a better life.”

The celebrity golf tournament will be held June 30 at the Century County Club in Purchase, New York. Past celebrities who have participated include: Eli Manning, Julius Erving, Warren Sapp, Marcus Allen, Clyde Drexler, Ahmad Rashad, Greg Anthony, Sterling Sharpe, Marshall Faulk, Luis Castillo, and William ‘Captain Kirk’ Shatner among others.

The event, now in its third year, raised more than $300,000 for children’s charities last year.

Look To The Stars News: Michael Strahan

Santana Plays Four Seasons Of Hope

Related past articles

Charles Barkley and Buddies Tee Off For Charity

Related past articles

New York Giants' Michael Strahan Hosts Charity Golf Tournament

Related past articles