Ryan Sheckler Hosts Celeb-Studded Charity Golf Tourney

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:30:00 -0000

X Games champion, reality star and budding philanthropist Ryan Sheckler will take to the links with 120 others to raise money for five charities.

The 18-year-old skateboarding phenomenon will host his first celebrity golf tournament – the Ryan Sheckler X Games Celebrity Skins Classic – on July 29 at the renowned Trump National Golf Course in Palos Verdes, CA. Many celebrities and professional athletes will participate, including Jerry O’Connell, Anthony Anderson, Audrina Patridge, Kendra Wilkinson, Dean Cain, Kevin Federline, Brody Jenner, Verne Troyer, Mia Hamm, Vicki Hurst, Bode Miller, Baron Davis, Carey Hart, Travis Pastrana, and Dave Mirra.

The tournament aims to further the mission of the Sheckler Foundation and raise funds for four additional charities: the Athlete Recovery Fund, which provides financial support to seriously injured BMX, FMX, and skateboard athletes; Boarding for Breast Cancer, a youth-focused awareness organization; Road 2 Recovery, which provides financial assistance and emotional support for motocross athletes coping with career-ending injuries; and Wings for Life, a spinal cord research foundation.

Says Sheckler, “I’ve always had a desire to help the kids who support me in my career and may not have had the same opportunities that I did. I have reached a point where I have the ability to give back, and I’m honored to have such a great response for this tournament from my professional colleagues and friends.”

The event will include a $10,000 hole-in-one putting contest and an 18-hole skins tournament, where the winner of each hole will receive $10,000 for the charity of his or her choice. Additional funds will be raised with a silent auction at the event’s dinner reception.

Ryan Sheckler became a professional skateboarder at 13, and has won numerous gold medals at competitions including the Gravity Games and X Games. Ryan also has his own clothing line and stars in “Life of Ryan,” a reality show aired on MTV.

The Sheckler Foundation was created in 2008 as an avenue for Ryan and his family to give back to the community that has supported Ryan’s athletic career. The Foundation supports medical research to cure childhood disease; enrichment programs for children in low income areas; and action sports athletes who are injured on the job. In April 2008, Sheckler donated his own Range Rover to the top fundraiser for the Children’s Cancer Research Fund 5K Run/Walk.

For more information on the Sheckler Foundation or to register for the tournament, please visit their website.

Artists Come Out To Shake the Blues

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:17:52 -0000

Written by Crystal A. Johnson

The charity Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA) held its annual concert and auctions on Thursday November, 15, 2007 at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. The “Shaking the Blues” benefit supports ANSA’s work fighting HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and Africa, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Treatment Action Campaign, a grassroots organization at the forefront of South Africa’s fight against AIDS.

Among the celebrities in attendance were Blair Underwood, Eric Benet, Anthony Anderson, Alfre Woodard, Heroes star Jimmy Jean-Louis, and Grey’s Anatomy star James Pickens Jr. Event chairs include Jackson Browne, Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson, George Lopez, Carlos Santana’s wife Deborah, Alfre Woodard and Forest Whitaker.

Not only was a baseball signed by Hall of Famer Dave Winfield on hand at the silent auction, but Dave and his wife Tonya attended the event. Close friends with Samuel and Latonya Jackson, the Winfields hope to personally visit South Africa soon.

The musical line-up featured stirring performances by The Roots and friends, Erykah Badu with Edith Funker, Nikka Costa, Doyle Bramhall II, Keb Mo, and Taj Mahal. The Roots roused the crowd with a rendition of Bob Dylan’s Masters of War, and the audience rose for Erykah Badu’s performance of her classic On and On.

In keeping with many other recent celebrity events, acknowledgement was given to the writers’ strike; James Pickens Jr spoke of supporting the writers before he introduced the grand finale performance by Taj Mahal.

Movie and K-ville star Anthony Anderson served as auctioneer for the live auction. As Blair Underwood battled for a diamond earring lot, Anderson comically referred to him only as “the man with the orange leather jacket on”. Underwood’s counter-bidder upped the ante, requesting a date with her opponent be included along with the earrings, which she won at $9,000. Not only did Underwood accept, but he promised it would be a dinner at the world-famous restaurant Spagos.

To encourage higher bids on a private lunch with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Anderson jokingly suggested that the winner could take a picture with Tutu and put it on Myspace.com to be the envy of their friends. The lunch went for $15,500.

Los Angeles-based non-profit organization ANSA was originally founded in 1989 by noted members of the entertainment community, with an initial goal of supporting the struggle against apartheid. Over time, the organization’s focus has shifted to the fight against the African AIDS pandemic, advancing democracy, and equality in South Africa.

The effort to raise money is not over. If you want help the cause their are several items available at the online auction. To bid on the online items: www.charityfolks.com/ansa.

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