Dear GreatLIFE Member, Team Member & Support Team,
March is upon us and Spring is right around the corner. For me, St Patrick’s Day was the end of Winter and a time to celebrate my Irish heritage! Several years ago, I owned an Irish bar called TJ O’Brien’s down at 6th & Phillips Avenue that was pretty rowdy and fun around St. Patrick’s Day! Hope you enjoy a safe and fun St. Pat’s Day!
As we have some of our golf courses opening whenever weather permits, you may want to go to my partner PGA Teacher of the Year Mike Malaska website malaskagolf.com for a 7-day free trial- excellent material! You can also get an annual 50% discount to Malaska Golf by entering promo code VIP50 for $99!
We have had a home down in the Los Cabos area since 1994 when it was a quiet, small beach community that we spend a couple months down there during the Winter. Some of you may be aware that 20 years ago we started a charity down in the Baja of Mexico since there was no treatment for kids with cancer. We just celebrated our 20th anniversary of the Los Cabos Children’s Foundation that we partnered with Avera, Sanford Health, St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and others in developing programs to fulfill our mission “To provide medical, educational and humanitarian assistance to the children, families and supportive organization of the Los Cabos area”. We have provided care for over 60,000 children with challenges ranging from cancer, heart defects and other medical issues. We have provided over 1,000 wheelchairs for kids and supported over 60 programs. We now have a 10-bed pediatric cancer center and accommodations for families of the kids being treated. We just completed our annual golf event the Fred Duckett Challenge and raised over $1.7 million for LCCF. If you want, you can go to www.loscaboschildren.org to learn more.
With our GreatLIFE Golf & Fitness Club and our GreatLIFE Cares Foundation we focus on our mission “TO ENRICH THE LIVES OF FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS THROUGH GOLF, FITNESS AND HEALTHY LIFESTYLES” in providing state of the art fitness facilities with caring professional Team Members throughout our communities.
Through our GreatLIFE Cares Foundation, we have a coalition of over 30 charitable and civic organizations that we support including all three school systems. We focus not only your health and well-being but also challenges and opportunities facing our communities like the Youth Entrepreneur program and TeamMates Mentoring of Sioux Falls Foundation. We are now helping the TeamMates of SD program as we look to expand throughout SD.
We have started The Phoenix program with free fitness classes for both GreatLIFE Members and non-members at our 39th & Phillips location on Tuesday 12:15 – 1 pm. It strives to use the power of group fitness to cultivate community and empowerment to help individuals overcome addiction and substance use. Another program that we started over a year ago is called Awaken. This combines beginner yoga and meditation with a healthy living focus on “owning your morning, owning your day and owning your life”. Recently we have introduced both programs at the Avera Addiction Care Center. It is an early morning program that runs Monday through Friday at 6 am for anyone that is interested in joining. You can learn more of what we are doing through our communities by going to our website at www.joingreatlife.com.
I have owned Labradors for more than 40 years and they have taught me many valuable lessons beyond being great companions. A good friend sent me “Dog Wisdom” that I am sure you’ll enjoy! Thanks for being a GreatLIFE Member! Have a great St. Patrick’s Day as well!
Tom