When the coronavirus pandemic forced the PGA Tour to cancel the Valero Texas Open, 53 local charities that count on the fundraiser weren’t left short.
On Monday, the tournament’s title sponsor, Valero Energy, announced it was awarding $14 million to hundreds of charities across the nation, including local organizations such as ChildSafe, Communities in Schools, and Mission Road Developmental Center.
Lynette Farrimond, vice president of development and communications at Mission Road, said the charity’s residential program for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities had to increase staffing considerably when school campuses closed, driving up costs unexpectedly.
“Valero represents the culture of San Antonio,” Farrimond said. “They’re just so generous, and even certainly before and even in the midst of the COVID, they just kept going.”
Like many professional sporting events, the golf tournament scheduled for April 2-5 didn’t happen, but the donors played through as business partners, sponsors, and individuals of the annual event participated in the event’s associated fundraisers, Benefit for Children and Champions fore Charity.
