Southern hospitality has a lot of characteristics. It can mean giving the mail carrier a cup of ice cold sweet tea on a hot day, bringing extra food to the potluck so that no one goes hungry, or lending an ear to a stranger in need. What all of those have in common—and one of Southern hospitality’s main tenets—is charity. Now, basketball Hall of Famer and Leeds, Alabama native Charles Barkley has just shown the world what Southern charity can look like.
The basketball legend turned commentator has donated $25,000 to help the children in his home state. Specifically, he made the donation to Children’s of Alabama, which is one of the top 10 busiest children’s hospitals in the country. They serve patients from every county in Alabama and many children from across the South.
After his long basketball career, when he’s not in a broadcast booth, Barkley spends a lot of time on the golf course. He’s a fixture each year at the Regions Tradition Pro Am golf tournament, held at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama.
“On behalf of our team at Children’s of Alabama, we are incredibly grateful to Charles Barkley for a $25,000 donation to the hospital as the beneficiary of the Regions Tradition,” Chandler Bibb, the Chief Development Officer at Children’s of Alabama, said in a statement. “His continued commitment to the children in our care inspires all of us and we greatly appreciate his generosity.”
Gene Hallman, President of Eventive Sports said, “Charles Barkley has been one of our tournament’s best ambassadors. He first played in our Pro Am in 1993 and has come back almost every year to play in our Pro Am in support of our tournament’s charitable initiatives… His generosity is amazing.”
The Regions Tradition tournament is one of five major championships on PGA TOUR Champions. The event not only brings many of the best of the best in golf to Birmingham, but as an organization, they have donated more than $24 million to charity, with Children’s of Alabama as the main charitable beneficiary.
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