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Kicking Kids Cancer with Leadership Links

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Alyssa Getty was just 10 years old when she decided to use golf as a platform to give to others after meeting an eight year old boy at her home golf course with cancer.

“He told me that he was part of a Kids Kicking Cancer program and it helped him through,” Getty said. “I knew I wanted to help in any way I could.”

While the game of golf is a huge part of AJGA juniors’ lives, it certainly isn’t the only part. Juggling time between the practice range and school, many juniors are also involved in added school programs, additional sports, family and of course time with friends. On top of all of these things, some AJGA juniors go above and beyond to giving back to their community through charitable works.

Alyssa Getty of Leamington, Ontario, is one of the AJGA members involved in the Leadership Links Program, a program dedicated to further developing young men and women by teaching charitable giving skills and service oriented practices at an early age. As an organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women, the AJGA supports these juniors through the Leadership Links program by giving juniors all the tools necessary to donate their time, talent and resources to local charities. Getty, for example, is using her golf game as a platform to spread the word about Kids Kicking Cancer with her local Transition to Betterness, Windsor – Essex program.

“I do charity work anyways in my hometown and I volunteered with young girls in junior golf in the past,” Getty said. “So when the AJGA gave me the opportunity to come into Leadership Links I thought it would be a good opportunity to expand my charity work.”

Through connections she has made on the golf course she has been able to raise over $100 to give to the Kids Kicking Cancer program and hopes to continue to spread the word with each AJGA tournament in which she participates.

“I talk to people and parents that I meet at the golf courses and friends that I have made through golf,” Getty said. “People have been very supportive and willing to pledge toward my cause. It has gone really well so far.”

Kids Kicking Cancer through Transition to Betterness, Windsor – Essex program benefits children with Cancer by teaching martial arts to calm and try to work through the pain of cancer using breathing exercises and meditation. Getty recognized the importance of children relieving stress and pain through her own experience on the golf course.

“I thought it fit in with golf since golf is very much a mental game,” She said. “You have to be able to calm yourself on the course between shots, so I felt a connection with what the program was teaching the kids.”

Not only does Getty raise money for the program, she has also attended classes in the past to work with the kids and hopes to attend more in the future. .

“I just want people to listen to the story of these kids,” Getty said. “I want to spread the word and continue to raise money for the program.”

For more information about the AJGA Leadership Links program please visit: http://www.ajga.org/LL/Index.asp

For more information about Alyssa Getty and the Kids Kicking Cancer program please visit: https://www.ajga.org/PIF/HomePages/index2.asp?UID=113671