Augusta National has joined forces with the Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) to donate $5 million to local Hurricane Helene relief efforts.
Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament, announced that the funds would go to the Hurricane Helene Community Crisis Fund, which will support life-saving aid in the Augusta community which was devastated by the storm.
The donation is intended to provide “immediate access to essential services and resources.”
“I was in Augusta in the days immediately after the storm and have seen firsthand its devastating impact,” Ridley said in a statement. “Our employees, neighbors, friends and business owners need, and deserve, immediate and meaningful assistance to overcome the hardships being experienced at this moment throughout Augusta.”
“Augusta National and the Community Foundation each take to heart our obligation to care for our community,” he continued. “Our goal is to make a difference when it’s needed the most, and our hope is that our gift may inspire others to assist or ask how they may contribute to this critical mission.”
Additionally, Augusta National Golf Club, the Community Foundation for the CSRA, and the Medical College of Georgia Foundation have made separate contributions to support the response and recovery efforts, led by the American Red Cross and other local community partners.
Augusta was hard-hit by Hurricane Helene, which crossed the Georgia border as a high-end Category 2 hurricane early Friday. Seven people were killed by the storm there, and an additional 17 lost their lives across the CSRA.
Ridley addressed the damage to Augusta National during the opening round of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Japan this morning. He said that the destruction from Hurricane Helene is “something that I’ve really never seen in my life,” reports NBC Sports.
“We have been without power and water and other essentials for a number of days,” Ridley said. “So it really does impress upon you what can happen when there’s a natural disaster such as that.”
He added that the legendary home of the Masters suffered “a lot of damage,” much like the rest of the community
Online donations to the Hurricane Helene Community Crisis Fund can be made through the Community Foundation website: cfcsra.org.