DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., June 2, 2015 – Mariajo Uribe, Yani Tseng and Sandral Gal have been named nominees for the 2015 Kia Community Assist Award, making a name for themselves on the golf course and off of it through their charitable impacts. Kia is the Official Automotive Partner of the LPGA and the sponsor of the tour’s Kia Performance Awards.
Uribe’s life-changing work with her foundation, the FORE Foundation, in her native Colombia has earned her a nomination for this year’s Kia Community Assist Award.
In 2008, Uribe started the foundation, which is dedicated to assist underprivileged kids by building libraries, tutorials, dance and art classes, sports programs and athletic scholarships. One of the projects the foundation is currently funding is a school that provides a place for special needs kids until 5th grade since public schools in Colombia don’t have special needs programs. The FORE Foundation helped to build a new school to more comfortably house the students and the foundation, along with other sponsors, covers 80 percent of the tuition for all of the students who attend the school.
Tseng was nominated for a Kia Community Assist for her work in providing national junior golfers opportunities to pursue college scholarships regardless of their financial resources. Tseng partners with the Swinging Skirts Golf Foundation and the AJGA to host the Yani Tseng Invitational, which featured 72 of the top female junior golfers from around the world including 18 top international players. Alongside the tournament, Tseng will endow an Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant, through event proceeds. The goal of the AJGA’s ACE Grant program is to give access to top-flight national junior golf opportunities to young golfers regardless of their access to financial resources.
Gal earned her Kia Community Assist nomination for her work with A Grateful Mind, an organization that helps homeless families out of crisis situations and offers a variety of workshops to assist in improving family self-sufficiency. She recently devoted her time and resources towards hosting her inaugural Putt to End
Poverty Sandra Gal Charity Challenge Presented by CME Group. Gal also has recently been bringing two young girls from the LPGA’s Girls Golf program behind the ropes to walk with her during the first and second round of tournament week.
The 2015 Kia Community Assist Award winner will be announced at the season-ending 2015 CME Group Tour Championship. Winners of all the 2015 Kia Performance Awards will receive an all-new 2016 Kia Sorento, Kia’s best-selling CUV. Morgan Pressel won the 2014 Kia Community Assist for her foundation’s efforts in raising funds and awareness for breast cancer research.
The 2015 Kia Performance Awards are:
- Kia Power Drive - Won in 2014 by Brittany Lincicome; awarded to the player with the longest driving distance
- Kia Drive to the Top - Won in 2014 by Stacy Lewis; awarded to the player with the most top-10 finishes
- Kia Most Compelling Performance - Won in 2014 by Paula Creamer; recognizing a player with an exceptional performance throughout the year; this award will be awarded monthly then the year-end winner will be chosen by fans through an online vote
- Kia Community Assist - Won in 2014 by Morgan Pressel; recognizing a player who makes exceptional contributions to charity organizations or community programs
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