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Pagnozzi efforts provide access to sports, activities

Kelley Atchley Pagnozzi Charities Executive Director
Kelley Atchley Pagnozzi Charities Executive Director

Kelley Atchley

Pagnozzi Charities

Tom Pagnozzi Charity Golf Tournament

Who: Pagnozzi Charities

What: Four-person scramble

When: 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 19

Registration: $900 per foursome, or $225 for individual golfers

Ultimate Tailgate & Auction

What: Food, drinks, live and silent auctions of sports memorabilia, live music

When: 6:30 p.m. Oct. 19

Attire: Casual

Tickets: $50

Where: Stonebridge Meadows Golf Course in Fayetteville

Information: (479)

Executive Director

Tell us about your organization: Pagnozzi Charities is a small, local nonprofit organization founded in 1999 by former Arkansas Razorback and St. Louis Cardinal Tom Pagnozzi.

Mission: The Mission of Pagnozzi Charities Youth Sports Assistance Program is to open the door of athletic experience to disadvantaged youth. Our goal is to advance the well-being of these youth by giving them the same opportunity as their peers and introducing them to positive life experiences.

Services provided: Pagnozzi Charities provides assistance to underprivileged children in kindergarten through eighth grade in Northwest Arkansas so they may participate in recreational sports activities. Assistance can be financial in the form of sports registration fees or the equipment necessary to participate in the sport.

Service area: We assist children all over Northwest Arkansas.

Average number of people served annually: We have been averaging 1,000 children annually but hope to increase that number in the coming years.

How is your organization's mission unique? Many underprivileged children don't have activities outside of school to keep them busy, healthy and challenged. Giving these kids the opportunity to participate in recreational sports activities helps fill that gap. It gives these kids the opportunity to have a coach as a positive adult role model and to learn important life skills such as team work, leadership skills and accountability. It also keeps the children active and goal oriented.

Why do you work or volunteer for a nonprofit organization? Do you have a personal connection to the mission? If so, what is it? My family was always involved in youth sports ... from my brother and I playing sports growing up to my parents volunteering or coaching with the sports organizations. As I got to an age to notice such things, I remember seeing my dad covering other kids' registration fees just so they could play baseball or buying them food or drinks from the concession stand because they didn't have any money. This stuck with me, and when the opportunity arose to work for an organization that was designed to help with that type of situation, I jumped at it.

What part of your job fills the most of your time? We are a very small staff of two, so time management is very important here. I would have to say that development is what fills the bulk of my time -- spreading our mission and finding new donors, event participants, sponsors, etc.

Are there volunteer opportunities in your organization? What are they? We are always looking for volunteers to help out at our fundraising events. We have three big fundraisers each year, and between the three we can use around 160 volunteers to make the events run smoothly.

What upcoming fundraisers and/or other events does your organization have planned? The Tom Pagnozzi Charity Golf Tournament, Ultimate Tailgate & Auction event presented by FedEx will be Oct. 19 at the Stonebridge Meadows Golf Course.

-- Carin Schoppmeyer

[email protected]

NAN Profiles on 09/23/2018

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