“Yeah, I’ve learned to play golf but also I’d say I’ve gotten better at math. I really have because I have to, like, measure the distances between, like, how far I’m going to hit it and what angle I’m going to hit it at.” A Unique Community Resource: • Founded: 1999 • Located: 26 acres in the heart of RI’s Urban Corridor • Mission: Develop strong character, teach life values and champion success through the game of golf • The Numbers: Since 2001, over 17,000 young people have participated in Button Hole programs • The Donors: Thousands who have stepped forward at every turn to provide opportunities for Rhode Island kids • Financial Stability: In addition to meet-ing annual operating costs and turning no one away because of inability to pay, Button Hole has built an endowment of $1.7 million and has launched a campaign to build on that base The Score Card-2013-14 Youth served: 2,174 Scholarships awarded: 1,700 Community partners: 20 MARIAH, age 12 Call to Action… We Need Your Support to Ensure the Future For 14 years Button Hole has remained true to providing opportunities to those who might never have had the life opportunities that Button Hole has provided to over 17,000 kids. Nowhere is there a facility with Button Hole’s history, vision, tradition and mission that more clearly can assume a leadership role in providing these opportunities. Last year Button Hole produced a short video available on our web site - www.buttonhole.org - that captures the testimony of what this resource means to the state and community. We invite you to visit our website, www.buttonhole.org and hear from our partners and students about lives changed and opportunities given. Button Hole is located in the middle of two inner city housing projects, on a 26-acre site that was once a crime-ridden wasteland home to prostitutes and drug dealers. Today, the citizens of the city and state - all citizens - regard this as a place to be safe, to grow, to mature and learn skills that influence a life time - and, oh yes, to learn to play golf. The Next Steps: * Expand year-round programming through existing and new partnerships * Support the core mission of promoting honesty, integrity, self-confidence and personal responsibility for RI’s youth * Strengthen our ties to community agencies serving the physically disabled * Provide opportunities for our youth to develop marketable skills Take this opportunity to change lives by supporting scholarships for future Button Hole Kids at $250 each. Consider making a commitment today that can change a life forever. Please call Peg Brown, Director of Development, at 401.421.1664 Ext 102 with any questions. You may also give on line at our website: www.buttonhole.org. It is with a great amount of both pride and humility that I accepted the position of Executive Director of Button Hole in March. Pride in being a part of the 14-year legacy of commitment to the community, to those in need, to assisting young men and women largely from Rhode Island’s urban core develop life skills, and to have an opportunity to expand and extend our work. I am humbled as I take on the mission established by our early visionaries that Button Hole can be an oasis where lives can be truly changed. As Button Hole continues to grow and mature, we recommit ourselves to the Rhode Island community and our common goal of providing the best possible opportunities for our children to become productive and contributing citizens. New initiatives with returning veterans and their families based on the recent development of a fully accessible course and teaching facility for the physically disabled, new technology, an opportunity to become a fully functional year-round teaching center and provide concrete opportunities for young people to develop marketable skills are all goals for this year. Please join me as we work to ensure the future of our continued commitment to the Button Hole mission and vision that have led over 17,000 young people to new opportunities for growth. With warm regards, PJ Fox, III, Executive Director A Lesson in Golf…A Lessons in Life Button Hole has an impact on the lives of young people by providing facilities and programs that develop strong character, teach life values and champion success through the game of golf. Conceived by a small group of visionary Rhode Island golfers, led by businessman Ed Mauro, a 26-acre sand pit was transformed into a nationally acclaimed 9-hole short course golf facility. While providing mentored interaction and skilled leadership in a safe and challenging setting, students develop lifelong values of integrity, sportsmanship and perseverance. Button Hole One Button Hole Drive Providence, RI 02909 401.421.1664 www.buttonhole.org