WE CAN BE PROUD OF OUR ERNIE ELS
By Dale Hayes
I have just returned from almost two weeks in America and as always, I had a wonderful time.
Els for Autism
We took the opportunity last week to visit the Els Centre of Excellence in Jupiter, Florida last week. This is the home of the Els for Autism Foundation and Junior School (Primary School) and they are in process of building the Senior School (High School), which will open in July this year.
Wow!
Ernie and Liezl Els should be so proud of what they have achieved thus far.
It was way beyond my expectations and when its 100% complete it will cater for the needs of 300 children on site while being able to help many more families across the US, and world-wide via video conferencing.
That doesn’t take into account their new arm of focus which is trying to assist young adults, and adults with autism in general, with finding meaningful opportunities to work. I’m blown away by the fact that companies like SAP, to name just one, are already embarking on the employment of people with autism within their organization in the US, and hopefully once these programs have been established, we will see them roll-out to many more organizations – and also around the World.
This has all been made possible by the consistent promotional efforts of both Liezl and Ernie Els and their amazing team. They have been able to raise over R400 million, which has enabled them to get their dream under way, but their work is by no means done. You can be sure that the opportunities for growing their contribution to Autism will never be complete and that every penny you contribute towards Els for Autism is going exactly where it should. I applaud the work that they are doing.
My thanks go to Philip Cotton, and to Dr. Marlene Sotelo for the guided tour and for answering endless questions. Your passion was truly inspiring and the Foundation and the children are lucky to have you in their corner.
An insert on the Centre will be included in our two one-hour programmes from the PGA Show, which will go out on Supersport towards the end of February. I’ll keep you updated with the dates of the shows.
