Support our mission
A donation to the Principal Charity Classic means support toward our Tournament Charity Partners who serve Iowa kids. Alongside donations collected for Birdies For Charity, these tournament donations help positively impact more than 130,000 Iowa children.
Tournament Charity Partners
The Principal Charity Classic donates funds to four primary nonprofits known as our Tournament Charity Partners. All of our Tournament Charity Partners are dedicated to improving the lives of children in our local community. These organizations embody the sole purpose of the Principal Charity Classic.
Blank Children’s Hospital
Blank Children’s Hospital, a service of UnityPoint Health – Des Moines, is completely dedicated to meeting the unique health care needs of children. Blank Children’s is an 108-bed environment and is committed to family-centered healing, caring and teaching. With over 150 specialists, and hundreds of nurses and staff who care for patients from before birth through adolescence, Blank Children’s is a hospital unlike any other. The number of medical specialists, programs and services is constantly growing to improve care and meet the changing health needs of children and families. Blank Children’s is part of UnityPoint Health® – Des Moines which includes Iowa Methodist, Iowa Lutheran, and Methodist West hospitals, John Stoddard Cancer Center, Eyerly Ball Community Mental Health Services and its affiliated physicians and clinics.
Blank Children’s Hospital has the distinction of being the only civilian hospital built during World War II. At that time, Iowa had the highest rate of polio among children of any state, but was one of only a few states that did not have a children’s hospital to care for them. The A.H. and Anna Blank family built the original hospital in 1944, in honor of their son Raymond who died at a young age, to address the health care needs of Iowa’s ill and injured children – and that legacy has continued for more than 75 years.
MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center
MercyOne Central Iowa operates four not-for-profit, Catholic medical centers in Des Moines, West Des Moines, Newton and Centerville (875 beds combined total) and two specialty hospitals – MercyOne Children’s Hospital in Des Moines and MercyOne Rehabilitation Hospital in Clive – along with more than 20 additional facilities that house more than 60 primary care, pediatric, internal medicine and specialty clinics. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1893, MercyOne Central Iowa has the longest continually operating hospital in Des Moines and is also one of the largest employers in the state, with more than 7,000 employees and a medical staff of more than 1,000 physicians and allied health associates. MercyOne Central Iowa is a member of MercyOne, which was founded in 1998 through a collaboration between CommonSpirit Health and Trinity Health – two of the country’s foremost, not-for-profit Catholic health organizations. The MercyOne system has more than 20,000 colleagues in Iowa and surrounding states.
United Way of Central Iowa
United Way of Central Iowa envisions a community where all individuals and families achieve their full potential. The organizations work to inspire action to improve the lives of Central Iowans by focusing on bold community goals in education, income and health — the building blocks for good quality of life.
Together United Way of Central Iowa seeks out central Iowa’s toughest challenges, sets sound strategies and goals, and then tackles them at their roots… in a UNITED WAY.
United Way of Central Iowa continues to be recognized nationally in the top 1% of charities for our fiscal management and accountability.
Recommended Viewing: Watch “Summer in the City” to learn more about how the United Way of Central Iowa, along with 25 schools and non-profits, has collaborated to ensure low-income families can enjoy healthy and productive summer months.
Variety – the Children’s Charity of Iowa
Variety – the Children’s Charity of Iowa is dedicated to improving the lives of underprivileged, at-risk, and special needs children throughout the state. Variety works to fund and deliver effective programs and provide grants to support our mission. Variety’s initiatives focus on four programs:
- Bikes for Kids – Variety provides custom specialized bikes to children with special needs and traditional bikes, locks and helmets to children who have never owned their own bike.
- Grant Program – Variety provides funding to more than 90 nonprofit children’s organizations annually for tangible items such as building expansions and renovations, equipment, programming needs and more.
- Variety Vans – More than 400 Variety Vans transport children to doctors’ appointments, therapy sessions and special outings or activities.
- Variety Star Playgrounds – Variety is working with Iowa communities to provide all-inclusive playgrounds for children with and without special needs.
Legacy Project
The Principal Charity Classic and Sammons Financial Group have partnered to launch a new program called the Legacy Project, which will donate to organizations with defined goals, strategies, and measurable outcomes to address the issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. First-year funding in the amount of $50,000 will go to The Directors Council (TDC), a Des Moines-based not-for-profit organization committed to developing social service programs focused on racial disparities and inequities in the areas of employment, education, financial inclusion, health, and housing.
The contribution will directly support TDC’s One Economy program designed to unite the community through a shared commitment to eliminating racial economic disparities. The funds will be used to create summer employment experiences for low-income youth ages 14-21 in greater Des Moines. This need was identified as a strategic goal of TDC and outlined in One Economy’s Blueprint For Action unveiled last year.
It is estimated the number of summer employment participants could grow to more than 1,200 youth by 2023 as other Des Moines-area businesses take part in the Legacy Project. Interested companies should contact the Principal Charity Classic for details on how to participate.