Childhood is one of the areas in which Mexican golfers have decided to focus their efforts. The Lorena Ochoa Foundation supports the education of children and adolescents, the María Fassi Foundation promotes golf for children with different abilities and with limited resources. Gaby López does not have her own foundation, but she may have one in the future, for now one of the main interests of the Mexican Olympian is to help new generations through different organizations and causes such as street children and their education or those suffering from eating problems or trauma.
“I want to see and prove exactly where I connect more, where he could contribute in a broader way, not just giving golf clinics, it is really focusing on different sectors of our society, be it adolescents, babies, boys and girls And that’s what I’m doing ”, said the standard-bearer of Tokyo 2020 in an interview with El Economista.
Golf is an elite sport in which the next year in the women’s category will be chasing bags of between 1.5 and 7 million dollars. The golfer who wins the next edition of the LPGA CME Group Tour Championship will win a historic prize of 2 million. In addition, it is an activity to which prestigious brands want to be associated through sponsorships.
Thus, golf also “is a sport where you can bring together many people with the ability to help,” Eduardo Ortiz de la Peña, a golf player and Adidas Group Brand Manager, told Forbes in 2016 during a golf philanthropic event.
At the beginning of December of this year, Lorena Ochoa, the former Mexican golfer in the world, raised 2,708,545 pesos for the benefit of the Lorena Ochoa Foundation and 1,223,500 pesos for the Guadalajara Country Club Foundation through the Golf Channel Charity Classic by Unifin, which featured the participation of athletes, celebrities and businessmen.
This cause was supported by number 55 in the Rolex ranking, Gaby López, with a donation of $ 30,000. The 28-year-old golfer is involved in various ways with organizations, the financial field is one of them, and commented to this newspaper that she has sponsors who join her initiatives, such as Cadillac, who also watch over the future of Mexican golf for that more figures continue to emerge to inspire new generations. For the capital city it is important to represent brands with the same values and principles.
“But what I like to get involved in the most is physically, hugging them, getting to know them, listening to them, when they feel listened to and supported is where the change really arises and I think that is where we can look forward and say that we have done a good job. ”.
Gaby López recently joined as ambassador of the civil association Ayúdate a dar, an institution that has the mission of improving the operating conditions of institutions that serve children and young people living on the streets, at risk and abandonment to provide them with a dignified life through of resource mobilization.
“It all started with looking for an initiative for boys and girls, it has always been something that has attracted my attention since Lorena started with education in Mexico and I think that is where we can see that we have a great range of improvement. When we change the lives of children and children at an early age, when they grow up they go almost alone. They bring an inspiration from within that I think has come from many years ago ”.
What do you think of the facilities that Mexican boys and girls have to access the practice of golf?
“Access to golf is growing much more than a couple of years ago and the fact of having golf courses already open to the public, fontanet courses, which is going to change the course of our country, is going to help a lot. It is true that we have to improve and the fact of making golf accessible, a golf practice is the beginning, you have to give them a club and the opportunity to hit the ball, you have to start there and focus on the next time, it can be that the next activity is to take this children to a golf course ”.
What have you learned from Lorena Ochoa in the sense of supporting, that a foundation is sustainable over time?
“He has left a legacy as a golfer and a human being. I have learned that there are no impossibilities, that there are no limits, that what seems impossible like becoming number one in the world is seen very far but it is not, everything is inside us, in the head, in our determination in the The attention we pay to things, that seed of hope that he has left us and sown in me is enormous; this within golf. Outside of this, to be a humble woman, with her feet on the ground, a woman who returns to her country, who returns affection, contributions, love, to a place that has seen me grow and develop and this sport that has given me all now is the time to give it back ”.
Help yourself to give
Foundation: 2005
Director: María Porfiria Díaz Sáenz
Type of foundation: Second floor (it does not directly serve the population, but rather collects and channel funds to the institutions in charge)
Scope: 13 states of the Mexican Republic
Supported projects: 15
Institutions benefited: 77
Direct beneficiaries: 45,973
Indirect beneficiaries: 81,888
Population with which it works: Children living on the streets, at risk and abandonment
Work programs: Infrastructure and equipment, civil protection and employment ties for autonomous life
Allied companies: 17
Recurring donations: From 350 pesos per month
source: ayudateadar.org.mx
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx