Rotorua golfer Danny Lee recently designated a donation of US$20,000 (NZ$29,843) to the Rotorua Boys' High School Alumni Fund managed by the Geyser Community Foundation.
The contribution is a portion of the charitable proceeds generated from The Presidents Cup 2015 at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Songdo IBD, Incheon City, Korea in which Lee was part of the International Team for the first time in his career.
The Presidents Cup is a unique golf event in that there is no purse or prize money. Players are not paid for their participation; instead, each competitor, captain and captain's assistant allocates their portion of the proceeds generated to chosen charitable causes.
Lee also allocated $90,000 to be split equally between New Zealand Golf, Bay of Plenty Golf and his home club, Rotorua's Springfield Golf Club.
Rotorua Boys' High School principal Chris Grinter said he was delighted that former student Lee had remembered his old school and made a significant contribution to the alumni fund, which the school established with Geyser in 2014.
"It provides a special and powerful way in which students, past and present, their families/whanau, teachers and anyone else who has an interest in helping the school continue to develop can give back for its long term benefit."
The Geyser Community Foundation was established to actively promote and encourage philanthropy for the long term benefit of the Rotorua and Taupo district communities.
Mr Grinter said the annual income from the school's Alumni Fund could be used in a number of ways for the benefit of students such as providing scholarships and prizes, providing or improving sporting and other facilities at the school or protecting the environment.
Donations of any size can be made by credit card at www.rbhs.school.nz or on Geyser's website www.geysercf.org.nz.
Funds placed with Geyser are invested and the capital retained in perpetuity. Every year the income earned on the capital is made available for charitable distribution. This means that donations made through Geyser keep giving forever and the total amount of an individual's gift will, over time, far exceed the original capital donation. This is a
powerful way for individuals, families or organisations to provide long term benefits to the Rotorua and Taupo communities.