I know I harp on Phil Mickelson a lot around this site. He's an easy target and I've heard some negative stories about him over the years. No matter all of that, there are times Lefty does a lot of good and I think we can't overlook that.
This weekend Phil and wife Amy knocked out their fourth annual Smart Start program in San Diego, an opportunity for underprivileged kiddos to land school supplies and clothes before they head off to classes. This year they had nearly 1,500 first through fourth graders participate. It's moving stuff.
"It's the looks on their faces," Mickelson said.
It's their stories, too.
The one about the woman who was sleeping in her car with her six children until child protective services took the kids to a shelter a few days ago. One of the boys wouldn't stop talking about his invitation to Start Smart. His teacher found the boy, prevailed on the social workers to cut the red tape and brought him to the store where he could shop for his family.
Or the one about the woman whose Marine husband had deployed to Iraq. Her older daughter, when told she had to share her clothes with a sister who had outgrown hers, was heartbroken. And then the Start Smart invitation came for both girls, and they shopped for more clothes than their mother dreamed they'd have anytime soon.
This a great program and something you have to respect the man for. Good job Phil, we can all hope that the good karma comes back to you in form of Ryder Cup wins this week. I hope that isn't trivializing this program he is a part of, because it truly is a special opportunity for a lot of kids with no chance.
No comments:
Post a Comment