John Deere Classic Earns Engaged Community Award For Third Time

For the second straight year, the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic has been recognized with the Tour’s Most Engaged Community Award for the 2012 event hosted at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois. This is according to a press release from the John Deere Classic website.

The tournament set a record charity contribution in 2012, bringing in $6.79 million to 493 local charities throughout the community, and representing a 27 percent increase in “Birdies for Charity” donations. The tournament also experienced a vast increase in volunteers; 260 new volunteers participated in the 2012 event.

John Deere Classic tournament director Clair Peterson says in the press release, "The John Deere Classic is very proud to receive the 2012 Most Engaged Community Award for the second consecutive year and the third time in the last several years. The 20,000 people and the 493 organizations represented in the Birdies for Charity program work the grassroots, get people involved, get donors involved. Their involvement and the financial success of the tournament enabled us to give each charity an eight percent bonus on top of the Birdies for Charity pledges collected. That’s the key to our integrated community and something we are very proud of."