Look To The Stars News: Grant Fuhr

Ray Romano Tees Up For San Diego Charities

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:30:00 -0000

The 2009 San Diego Celebrity Classic is set to take place at Morgan Run Resort & Club in Rancho Santa Fe, CA on April 24-26, 2009, to raise money for San Diego charities.

The yearly event attracts the best-of-the-best celebrity golfers and has raised more than $1M for local San Diego charities since it’s inception in 1999. This year’s celebrity line up features over 50 great celebrities and athletes, including: Drew Brees, Jerry Rice, Ray Romano, Goose Gossage, Nate Kaeding, Brett Saberhagen, Bode Miller, Jim Everett, Grant Fuhr and many others.

‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ star Ray Romano is routinely asked to take part in celebrity golf events, yet chooses the San Diego Celebrity Classic as his favorite: “Well, you know, I get asked to do a lot of them, and unfortunately I can’t, and this one is for a great cause, it’s run great, it’s fun, it’s always fun. So I make this the one that I do,” he told Integrated Sports Marketing. “I guess I’ve done it every year but one for like the last 8 or 9 years. So it is important. If I can help out just by playing golf, it doesn’t get any better than that. So I try to do what I can, but I always try to do this one. And my goal is not to come in last.”

Rady Children’s Hospital has once again been named as this years’ beneficiary, while auction proceeds will support the Brooke Humphries Fund. Former San Diego Chargers quarterback, Stan Humphries, established the fund after his daughter underwent life saving open-heart surgery at San Diego Children’s Hospital in 1998.

For more information and a complete list of confirmed celebrities, visit the SD Celebrity Classic website

San Diego Celebrity Classic To Tee Off In April

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:30:00 -0000

Written by Delinda Lombardo

On April 22-26, 2009, at the Morgan Run Resort & Club in Rancho Santa Fe, California, celebrities and athletes will tee off for the San Diego Celebrity Classic.

The event, which features many of the world’s best and most recognized celebrity golfers, aims to raise charitable donations for the tournament’s beneficiary, Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego.

The fan friendly environment gives guests a chance to interact with their favorite celebrities for just $10. (Free for military personal with ID).

Past celebrities who’ve teed off for charity here include: Stan Humphries, Johnny Bench, Marshall Faulk, Dan Quayle, Ozzie Smith, Smokey Robinson, Judd Nelson, Doug Flutie, Bode Miller, Kevin Sorbo, John O’ Hurley, Grant Fuhr, Alan Thicke, Bret Saberhagen, Jerry Rice, John Elway, Marcus Allen, Mario Lemieux, Ray Romano, Emmitt Smith, Drew Brees, Sterling Sharpe, Ivan Lendl, Jack Wagner, Adam Baldwin, Junior Seau, Nate Kaeding, Kenny Lofton and many, many others.

For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit the event website.

Celebs For Kids Makes A $7 Million Challenge

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:30:00 -0000

Written by Elizabeth Willoughby

Dozens of celebrities including actors Matt Damon, Cheech Marin, and Hockey Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr are helping to raise funds for a research centre dedicated to pediatric rheumatology at Canada’s B.C. Children’s Hospital

Inspired by Karim Chandani, founder of Celebs for Kids in partnership with the Arthritis Society of Canada and Lupus Canada, the $3.5 million project – the Ross Petty Research Chair in Paediatric Rheumatology – will address the enormous lack of knowledge about Lupus in both the medical field and the general public, and the fact that there is currently no such research or treatment facility in Canada.

According to lupus sufferer Dr Jan McCaffrey, lupus is difficult to diagnose or treat because it affects every patient differently and has only a fraction of the research or public awareness compared to that of other well-known diseases. It is an autoimmune disease that attacks healthy body systems and tissues, resulting in pain and organ damage. McCaffrey says, “If I had to write a bumper sticker for doctors and lupus with a view of helping diagnose patients sooner, I would say, ‘If it doesn’t make sense, think of lupus.’”

Celebs for Kids is Chandani’s response to his daughter’s lupus diagnosis last year. “It started out being about my daughter,” he says, “but it very quickly changed when I found out about the amount of kids who are affected.”

Celebs for Kids has three major fundraisers planned. Two will be in August: star-studded poker and golf tournaments hosted by Grant Fuhr, who has invited several friends to participate – including Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Kevin Costner and Lil Jordan.

There promises to be a celebrity at each table, live entertainment and a fashion show at the funny money poker game on the 14th. The golf tournament the next day will offer things like $1 million dollar hole-in-one, luxury cars to win, prizes per hole ranging from $20,000 to $375,000, a dinner cruise and gala evening. “We have three levels at the River Rock where 700 guests can mix and mingle with tons of celebrities,” said Chandani. “We have spent no money. Everything has been sponsored or donated and it’s been absolutely amazing.”

The third fundraiser is the $7 million Facebook challenge, ongoing until December 2 where Facebookers can donate a dollar at a time, recruit their friends to do the same and spread the word.

Chandani says, “We are excited about the power social media networks have to create mass awareness and exposure for these diseases. I’m so motivated by this to make things happen and change things very quickly.”

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":http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/445-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.

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