About A Big Heart Foundation
A Big Heart Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization founded in 2010 as a way for BURKE to give back to the Charlotte community. With funds raised through our annual Toys for Tots Golf Tournament, we have donated over a quarter of a million dollars to various charitable causes.
About the Toys for Tots Golf Tournament
The T4T Golf Tournament is the second largest contributor to the Marine Corp Toys for Tots program in the state of North Carolina. Sponsors supporting the event include a variety of business leaders and decision-makers among prominent companies in the Charlotte area. Last year’s Annual T4T golf event collected over $35,000 worth of toys for hundreds of children in the Charlotte area during the Holiday Season. We are looking forward to raising even more money this year!
Please join A Big Heart Foundation, Inc. on September 24, 2018 for the 11th Annual Toys for Tots Golf Tournament! Learn more about this year’s event.
US Marine Corps
US Marine Corps
The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is a not for profit organization authorized by the U.S. Marine Corps and the Department of Defense to provide fundraising and other necessary support for the annual Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. Last year, Marines distributed gifts to 7.2 million children in 721 communities nationwide. The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation relies on individual donations from the American public as well as support from corporate sponsors.
Toys for Tots provides joy and a message of hope to less fortunate children through the gift of a new toy or book during the Christmas holiday season. Our gifts offer these children hope, recognition and a positive memory they will cherish for a lifetime. Many of the gifts we provide, such as books, games and sports equipment, make a significant contribution to the educational, social and recreational development of these children.
How old is Toys for Tots?
71 years old. Toys for Tots began in 1947.
What state did Toys for Tots begin?
Major Bill Hendricks and a group of Marine Reservists began in Los Angeles collecting and distributing 5,000 toys to children in need.
What toy started it all?
Diane Hendricks, Bill’s wife, first crafted a homemade doll and asked Bill to deliver the doll to an organization, which would give it to an underprivileged child at Christmas. When Bill determined that no agency existed, Diane told Bill that he should start one. He did. The 1947 pilot project was so successful that the Marine Corps adopted Toys for Tots in 1948 and expanded it into a nationwide campaign.
What’s the goal of Toys for Tots?
The initial objective that remains the hallmark of the program today is to “bring the joy of Christmas to America’s children in need”.
Title Sponsor
Title Sponsor
This year’s Annual T4T Golf Tournament Title Sponsor: Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP
Founded in 1925, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP is a full service law firm with more than 220 attorneys with offices in Charlotte as well as in Tampa and Sarasota, Florida and Toledo and Columbus, Ohio. The National Law Journal lists Shumaker as No. 181 in its listing of the 250 largest firms in the country.
Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP has a long history of community support. Shumaker is a strong supporter of nonprofit organizations in each of its five locations and it firmly believes in giving back to the communities it serves. The Charlotte office is proud to be the General Title Sponsor of the Eleventh Annual Toys for Tots Golf Tournament, for the eighth year in a row, to serve the community’s underprivileged families.
Presenting Sponsor
T4T Presenting Sponsor
This year’s Annual T4T Golf Tournament Presenting Sponsor: First National Bank
F.N.B. Corporation (NYSE:FNB), headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a diversified financial services company operating in eight states. FNB holds a significant retail deposit market share in attractive metropolitan markets including: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; Cleveland, Ohio; and Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham and the Piedmont Triad (Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point) in North Carolina. The Company has total assets of nearly $30 billion, and more than 400 banking offices throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. As of March 11, 2017, F.N.B. Corporation successfully completed its merger with Raleigh, North Carolina-based Yadkin Financial Corporation (Yadkin Bank), a longtime supporter of the Toys for Tots Golf Tournament.
FNB provides a full range of commercial banking, consumer banking and wealth management solutions through its subsidiary network which is led by its largest affiliate, First National Bank of Pennsylvania, founded in 1864.
From financial support to employee volunteerism, FNB is actively engaged with the projects, organizations and decisions that shape the regions where it does business. They empower local leadership, so you can be sure FNB is aware of the issues facing your community and is focused on making an impact where it matters most.
Golf Volunteers
Golf Volunteers
Thank you to the 2017 T4T Golf Volunteers! Without your time and commitment, this event would not be possible. We appreciate your dedication in supporting the 10th Annual T4T Golf Tournament!
Volunteers
- Stuart Fligel
Fligel Image Apparel - Jen Burns
Elizabeth Barnett
Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick - Dawn Walker
Arby’s - Sherry Stone
Toys & Co. - Steve Moore
Brian Treffeisen
Treffeisen Media - United States Marines
- Randy Peterson
BURKE - Rick Guile
BURKE - Caleb Hoopingarner
BURKE - Juliet Rollins
BURKE - Heather Rines
BURKE - Lisa Neal
BURKE - Katie Sexton
BURKE - Kesed Millay
BURKE - David Naspinski
BURKE - Liz Schafer
BURKE - Sara Sodano
BURKE - Amanda Lax
BURKE - Elizabeth Reinhardt
BURKE - Becky Hudson
BURKE - Brooke Sanderson
A Big Heart Foundation/BURKE
Foundations Supported
Foundations Supported by A Big Heart Foundation
Toy Shopping & Delivery
Toy Shopping & Delivery
A Big Heart Shops for Toys for Tots
One of our favorite aspects of the Toys for Tots Golf Tournament is to go shopping for the children’s toys after the event. Last year’s Annual Toys for Tots Golf Tournament raised over $35,000 worth of toys for the Toys for Tots program in the greater Charlotte area. Tournament organizers purchased all of the toys at Toys & Co. in the Cotswold Shopping Center in Charlotte, which granted a significant discount so that the value of the contributions could be extended.
At Toys & Co., organizers picked out some of their favorite toys to donate. From creative LEGO kits to cuddly sock monkeys, the group had a selection of classic toys and cutting-edge educational toys to pick from. In total, the Toys for Tots Tournament contributed to serving over 50,000 children in the Charlotte area who would otherwise not have any toys for Christmas.
Representatives from the Charlotte Toys for Tots chapter joined Tournament organizers and volunteers at Toys & Co. to pick out and pack up the toys. After picking out the toys, the Marines left with the truck packed FULL of toys. All of the toys were distributed by the Marine Corps Toys For Tots Foundation to needy children in the Charlotte area.
Marines Deliver Toys to Tots
Since the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program began in 1947, Marines have distributed more than 469 million toys to more than 216 million needy children. This charitable endeavor has made U.S. Marines the unchallenged leader in looking after less fortunate children at Christmas. Over its life span, the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation has supplemented local collections with more than 98 million toys valued at more than $694 million; plus provided promotion and support materials valued at over $8.5 million.
The Charlotte Marines with our local Toys for Tots Program have played an integral part of the Toys for Tots Golf Tournament every year. For the Tenth Annual Tournament, they had a prominent presence at the tournament with a Color Guard presentation and two war vehicles for participants to explore on and off the course.
In 2017, Charlotte’s Toys for Tots coordinating Marines assisted the organizers of the Tenth Annual Toys for Tots Golf Tournament in a special delivery of 1,000 of the tournament’s donated toys to Hope Haven, a housing and addiction recovery foundation that provides services to Charlotte’s homeless. The remaining toys were delivered to the local Charlotte Marine Toys for Tots distribution center to be delivered to local families in need for the Holiday season.