Nothing short of an all-star
When Joe Carter launched his annual charity golf tournament in 2010, he wouldn’t settle for less than the best. Now, as the top tournament of its kind in Canada, celebrities come to him and ask to hit the green
After being part of the Blue Jays teams that took home the World Series championships in both 1992 and 1993, baseball legend Joe Carter knows what it means to succeed.
When he decided to launch his own charity golf tournament in 2010, he wasn’t going to settle for it being anything less than a winner. In a sea of charitable events, he didn’t want the Joe Carter Classic to be just another obligation for its celebrity attendees — he wanted the tournament to be something they genuinely looked forward to every year.
“I wanted my tournament to the best one. I wanted people to ask me to play in tournament — not the other way around,” he explains.
It’s Carter’s drive for success that has made the Joe Carter Classic the top celebrity golf tournament in Canada. Since its launch in 2010, the two-day event has attracted the likes of Blue Jays champion Kelly Gruber, hockey great Wayne Gretzky and Grammywinning gospel singer Daniel Winans. Every year, comedians, musicians, actors and athletes gather to play in a skins golf game, the tournament, take part in a silent auction and attend an after-party with performances by entertainers including Shaggy and Naughty by Nature.
But for Carter, a love of golf wasn’t what motivated him to start the tournament—instead, it was the opportunity raise funds and awareness for an important cause. “As athletes, we don’t ask to be put on a platform. People look at that as the great limelight, but it’s about what you do with that limelight,” he says.
What Carter has chosen to do is shine a light on the Children’s Aid Foundation, a charitable organization that supports what CEO Valerie McMurtry calls “one of the most invisible causes in the country.” Currently, the CAF supports 23,000 youth who are part of the child welfare system, including crown wards, those in foster care and high-risk youth — and Carter’s beacon of light is welcomed.
“It’s a huge opportunity for us to get some visibility, and that’s hard to do in a crowded marketplace,” says McMurtry.
In addition to raising awareness, over the last six years the charity golf tournament has raised $1.5 million for the CAF and other children’s charities. Each year, two Joe Carter Scholarships are awarded to students who grew up in care. It’s just one of 200 academic awards offered through the CAF. They’re much needed; in Ontario, only 46 per cent of high school students in care graduate — compared to the provincial average of 81 per cent. Those who do finish high school often struggle with financing their post-secondary education.
Funds from the golf tournament also go toward the Joe Carter Family Support Fund, which helps sustain CAF programs for high-risk teenagers and their care- givers, including counselling, education and therapeutic care services. Last year, 2,633 children, youth and their families were supported through CAF’s prevention-related programming. The endowment funds generated by the golf tournament ensure the long-term success of these programs and, this year, they have deepened their commitment with an additional $500,000 pledge.
However, Carter’s involvement represents something far greater to beneficiaries than just a dollar sign.
“When children in care are up close and in the same sphere as someone like Joe Carter, that can really have a lasting impact in making them think differently about their lives in a very real way,” says McMurtry.
“The very knowledge a celebrity like Joe Carter has put himself behind this issue is really meaningful to a young person who’s had so little support from anybody.”
James Dodds, a TD Bank Group vicepresident and co-founder of the Joe Carter Classic, says this commitment is the same driving force that Carter demonstrated to the Blue Jays in the early ’90s. “Joe’s as much an all star off-the-field now, as he was on the field when he played. He chooses to use his fame and what he’s passionate about to positively affect the lives of thousands of kids,” says Dodds. As McMurtry watched the Jays come close the championship again in 2015, she paused to reflect on the rarity of Carter’s contribution.
“There are so many celebrities who have made their wealth and fame and have just moved on in their private lives,” she says. “The fact that Joe commits to this and makes it such a community investment? He’s really just paying it back for the rest of his life.”