Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market-Sponsored Pro-Am Golf Tournament Raises $200,000 For Youth Programs

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and its partners raised $200,000 for LA’s BEST (an after school program for kids in Los Angeles) and Park Century Schools at the fresh&easy Dinah Shore Charity (LPGA) Pro-Am golf tournament which was held yesterday on the Arnold Palmer course at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, according to Tim Mason, CEO of Fresh & Easy and group deputy CEO of United Kingdom-based Tesco.

The inaugural fresh&easy Dinah Shore Pro-Am golf tournament was part of the larger Kraft Nabisco Championship 2011, held at Mission Hills from March 28 -to- today, April 3. The long-running Kraft Nabisco Championship event celebrated its 40th anniversary this year.

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market became the name-sponsor of the event after CEO Mason was approached by veteran professional golfer and LPGA member Amy Alcott earlier this year.

"From the moment Amy discussed the concept of this event with me, I could see her desire to put a spotlight on the 40 wonderful years of the players and milestones of the Kraft Nabisco Championship as well as to create an opportunity to help children in some way, our shared passion. To now see the support of these great players – hall of famers, tournament champions, LPGA legends – continues to strengthen our commitment to the event, which also gives us a tremendous opportunity to raise important funds for LA’s BEST and Park Century Schools, two very worthy beneficiaries," Mason said in February about Fresh & Easy's sponsorship of the golf tournament.

Alcott and Mason headed up the organization of the pro-am tournament, which paired LPGA professionals with amateur golfers, including Fresh & Easy's Mason, who reports his team placed third in the event.

The lady-professional golfers participating in yesterday's tournament were, in addition to Alcott: Donna Andrews, Susie Berning, Jane Blalock, Pat Bradley, Donna Caponi, JoAnne Carner, Beth Daniel, Cindy Figg-Currier, Rosie Jones, Betsy King, Meg Mallon, Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, Alice Miller, Liselotte Neumann, Alison Nicholas, Sandra Palmer, Nancy Scranton, Patty Sheehan, Hollis Stacy and Kathy Whitworth, the winningest female golfer of all time.

But the big winners of the golf tournament are the two youth-focused organizations, LA's Best and Park Century School, who will benefit from the monies raised on the links at Mission Hills in sunny Rancho Mirage yesterday.

LA's BEST (Better Educated Students for Tomorrow) is a nationally recognized after school education, enrichment and recreation program. It serves 28,000 children with the greatest needs and fewest resources throughout the City of Los Angeles. The organization's After School Enrichment Program provides a safe haven for children ages 5 to 12 at 180 elementary school sites each day during the critical hours after school, at no cost to parents. Established in 1988, LA's BEST is a partnership between the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified School District and the private sector.

Park Century School is a non-profit independent co-educational day school designed to meet the specific educational needs of bright children, ages 7 to 14, who have learning disabilities. The School serves students from communities in the South Bay to the San Fernando Valley and from Malibu to Hancock Park, including the greater Los Angeles area.

Thanks to the Saturday on the greens, the two organizations now have a bit more green to use in support of the kids they serve. Job well done all around.

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February 16, 2011: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Tim Mason Gets A Major Golf Tournament to Call His Own.