A local nonprofit next week will award more than $900,000 in grant money, which was raised through the Coachella Valley’s PGA Tour event long associated with the late comedian Bob Hope, to 29 local charities and organizations.
Desert Classic Charities’ 60th annual funds distribution ceremony will be held Tuesday at the Classic Club.
The recipients include the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission, Martha’s Village & Kitchen, the Family YMCA of the Desert, the Children’s Discovery Museum and a half-dozen Boys & Girls Clubs across the Coachella Valley.
Desert Classic Charities has raised more than $60 million to support local nonprofits since 1959, when a group of local businessmen and community leaders decided to produce a golf tournament to support local nonprofits, naming it the Palm Springs Golf Classic, according to the nonprofit’s website.
The tournament was later renamed the Bob Hope Desert Classic and has undergone several name changes in recent year. Last September, the PGA Tour announced that American Express signed a mulit-year deal as title sponsor of the event now known as “the American Express.”
The tournament will be held Jan. 16-19 at PGA West’s Stadium Course.
