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WGA Caddie Academy Awarded $125,000 From PGA TOUR to Support Programming That Reaches Underserved and Underrepresented Youth
NNPA NEWSWIRE — “For young people who don’t have access to caddie programs where they live, the WGA Caddie Academy offers a supportive community and an opportunity to experience the benefits that caddying provides,” said John Kaczkowski, President and CEO of the WGA and Evans Scholars Foundation. “As we expand this life-changing initiative, these funds will help us reach more students nationwide and instill in them the core values that will guide them on the golf course and throughout their lives.”
The post WGA Caddie Academy Awarded $125,000 From PGA TOUR to Support Programming That Reaches Underserved and Underrepresented Youth first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Korn Ferry Tour’s NV5 Invitational Wins Inaugural PGA TOUR Charity Challenge
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida & GLENVIEW, Illinois – The PGA TOUR announced that the Western Golf Association (WGA) Caddie Academy is the recipient of a $125,000 award. The nonprofit organization, headquartered in Chicago, was selected by the NV5 Invitational presented by Old National Bank – a Korn Ferry Tour event contested at The Glen Club in Glenview, Illinois – as the charitable beneficiary of the inaugural PGA TOUR Charity Challenge.
Founded in 2012, the WGA Caddie Academy is a unique summer work program that provides caddie opportunities to promising high school students from around the country who show academic excellence and leadership potential. This past summer, more than 140 participants attended one of five Caddie Academy chapters nationwide to caddie daily for seven weeks while living together. After successfully completing three summers, these students become eligible to apply for the Evans Scholarship – a full tuition and housing scholarship to college.
“For young people who don’t have access to caddie programs where they live, the WGA Caddie Academy offers a supportive community and an opportunity to experience the benefits that caddying provides,” said John Kaczkowski, President and CEO of the WGA and Evans Scholars Foundation. “As we expand this life-changing initiative, these funds will help us reach more students nationwide and instill in them the core values that will guide them on the golf course and throughout their lives.”
The Caddie Academy began in the Chicago area with an initial group of 12 participants. Today, it has grown to five chapters nationwide, with a sixth location to open in Ohio next summer. Current chapters include:
- Caddie Academy for Young Women (Lake Forest, Illinois)
- Caddie Academy for Young Men (Evanston, Illinois)
- Eastern Caddie Academy (State College, Pennsylvania)
- Minnesota Caddie Academy (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
- Seattle Caddie Academy (Seattle, Washington)
Participants are chosen during their freshman year of high school based on showing outstanding academics, leadership and character. The average household income of participants in the Caddie Academy is $30,000, and more than 90% of the program’s participants are students of color.
The Caddie Academy’s structured summer program is centered on four major components: caddying, academic development, community involvement and personal growth. Students get the opportunity to earn money, meet role models, learn invaluable life lessons and eventually earn a college scholarship. To date, 118 Caddie Academy graduates have been awarded the Evans Scholarship.
During the 2021-22 PGA TOUR season, as part of the PGA TOUR Charity Challenge, host organizations across the PGA TOUR, Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR Champions had the opportunity to select a local charitable beneficiary with specific programs and services that address diversity, equity and inclusion in underserved or underrepresented communities.
Every week, the amount of FedExCup points each tournament’s eight-player fantasy-style roster earned was totaled, and the team with the highest total each week won a $5,000 contribution to its charitable beneficiary. Each team’s FedExCup points were counted throughout the 2021-22 PGA TOUR season, and the team with the highest accumulation after the BMW Championship was crowned the season-long winner, earning the top prize of $100,000 for its charitable partner.
The NV5 Invitational earned $25,000 throughout the season and the Charity Challenge grand prize of $100,000.
Get to know two of this year’s participants in the WGA Caddie Academy:
Melanie Tapia was born and raised in Chicago – and always knew the expectations that came with being a first-generation child. Her parents came from Ecuador, seeking more opportunity while continuously emphasizing education and hard work. Melanie received a high school scholarship to attend a boarding school, “leaving behind home, family and friends, just like my parents had, to receive the education they dreamed of for me,” she said. Through school, Melanie was connected to the Caddie Academy, where she spent her next few summers learning the game of golf. By excelling in school and on the course as a caddie, Melanie earned a full tuition and housing Evans Scholarship to Northwestern University, where she is now a freshman. “Going to college has provided me with new learning experiences – and the life-changing opportunity to fulfill my dreams of a better future for myself and my family,” she said.
As a young girl, Star Brooks always wondered what college was like – but didn’t know if it was something she’d be able to experience herself. “Life in my family has not been easy, but working hard has always been my priority,” she said. Spending her summers with the Caddie Academy pushed her entirely out of her comfort zone, but her desire to be a “role model of integrity” led her to stick out the challenges – and find a new family of support along the way. Now a senior at the University of Illinois – and the first in her family to go to college – Star is pursuing two college degrees and hopes to go into sports marketing. “I can clearly see how my caddie experiences have contributed to my character and helped me become the person I am today,” she said. “I have learned so many leadership skills, all of which will help me make my future dreams become a reality.”
About the Korn Ferry Tour
Founded (1990), owned and operated by the PGA TOUR, the Korn Ferry Tour identifies and develops golf’s next stars, preparing them to compete and win on the game’s biggest stage. The Korn Ferry Tour, which has served as a path to the PGA TOUR since its inception, will begin awarding 30 PGA TOUR cards based off its points list in 2023, with the No. 1 player earning exemptions into the following year’s PLAYERS Championship and U.S. Open. With more than 600 PGA TOUR titles, 28 major championships and six FedExCup champions, Korn Ferry Tour alumni make up over 80 percent of the PGA TOUR’s current membership. To learn more about the PGA TOUR, the Korn Ferry Tour and to follow the season-long quest for a PGA TOUR card, visit PGATOUR.COM or follow the Korn Ferry Tour on social media.
Six Korn Ferry Tour events are televised annually on GOLF Channel in the United States, with tournament programming also available via 22 linear TV partners in 170-plus countries and territories. Over 70 hours of live coverage is available in 130-plus countries and territories. Programming is also available via the OTT platform GOLFTV powered by PGA TOUR in every market outside of the United States (240-plus countries and territories), excluding China, Korea and Russia, with live coverage distributed in 130-plus countries and territories.
The post WGA Caddie Academy Awarded $125,000 From PGA TOUR to Support Programming That Reaches Underserved and Underrepresented Youth first appeared on BlackPressUSA.
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Trump Set to Sign Largest Cut to Medicaid After a Marathon Protest Speech by Leader Jeffries
BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S.

By Lauren Burke
By a vote of 218 to 214, the GOP-controlled U.S. House passed President Trump’s massive budget and spending bill that will add $3.5 trillion to the national debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S. With $175 billion allocated in spending for immigration enforcement, the money for more police officers eclipsed the 2026 budget for the U.S. Marines, which is $57 billion. Almost all of the policy focus from the Trump Administration has focused on deporting immigrants of color from Mexico and Haiti.
The vote occurred as members were pressed to complete their work before the arbitrary deadline of the July 4 holiday set by President Trump. It also occurred after Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries took the House floor for over 8 hours in protest. Leader Jeffries broke the record in the U.S. House for the longest floor speech in history on the House floor. The Senate passed the bill days before and was tied at 50-50, with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski saying that, “my hope is that the House is gonna look at this and recognize that we’re not there yet.” There were no changes made to the Senate bill by the House. A series of overnight phone calls to Republicans voting against, not changes, was what won over enough Republicans to pass the legislation, even though it adds trillions to the debt. The Trump spending bill also cuts money to Pell grants.
“The Big Ugly Bill steals food out of the hands of starving children, steals medicine from the cabinets of cancer patients, and equips ICE with more funding and more weapons of war than the United States Marine Corps. Is there any question of who those agents will be going to war for, or who they will be going to war against? Beyond these sadistic provisions, Republicans just voted nearly unanimously to close urban and rural hospitals, cripple the child tax credit, and to top it all off, add $3.3 trillion to the ticking time bomb that is the federal deficit – all from a party that embarrassingly pretends to stand for fiscal responsibility and lowering costs,” wrote Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY) in a statement on July 3.
“The Congressional Budget Office predicts that 17 million people will lose their health insurance, including over 322,000 Virginians. It will make college less affordable. Three million people will lose access to food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). And up to 16 million students could lose access to free school meals. The Republican bill does all of this to fund tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires, and corporations,” wrote Education and Workforce Committee ranking member Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) in a statement. The bill’s passage has prompted Democrats to start thinking about 2026 and the next election cycle. With the margins of victory in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate being so narrow, many are convinced that the balance of power and the question of millions being able to enjoy health care come down to only several thousand votes in congressional elections. But currently, Republicans controlled by the MAGA movement control all three branches of government. That reality was never made more stark and more clear than the last seven days of activity in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.

#NNPA BlackPress
Congressional Black Caucus Challenges Target on Diversity
BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — we found that the explanations offered by the leadership of the Target Corporation fell woefully short of what our communities deserve and of the values of inclusion that Target once touted

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent
Target is grappling with worsening financial and reputational fallout as the national selective buying and public education program launched by the Black Press of America and other national and local leaders continues to erode the retailer’s sales and foot traffic. But a recent meeting that the retailer intended to keep quiet between CEO Brian Cornell and members of the Congressional Black Caucus Diversity Task Force was publicly reported after the Black Press discovered the session, and the CBC later put Target on blast.
“The Congressional Black Caucus met with the leadership of the Target Corporation on Capitol Hill to directly address deep concerns about the impact of the company’s unconscionable decision to end a number of its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts,” CBC Chair Yvette Clarke stated. “Like many of the coalition leaders and partner organizations that have chosen to boycott their stores across the country, we found that the explanations offered by the leadership of the Target Corporation fell woefully short of what our communities deserve and of the values of inclusion that Target once touted,” Congresswoman emphasized. “Black consumers contribute overwhelmingly to our economy and the Target Corporation’s bottom line. Our communities deserve to shop at businesses that publicly share our values without sacrificing our dignity. It is no longer acceptable to deliver promises to our communities in private without also demonstrating those values publicly.”
Lauren Burke, Capitol Hill correspondent for Black Press of America, was present when Target CEO Cornell and a contingent of Target officials arrived at the U.S. Capitol last month. “It’s always helpful to have meetings like this and get some candid feedback and continue to evolve our thinking,” Cornell told Burke as he exited the meeting. And walked down a long hallway in the Cannon House Office Building. “We look forward to follow-up conversations,” he stated. When asked if the issue of the ongoing boycott was discussed, Cornell’s response was, “That was not a big area of focus — we’re focused on running a great business each and every day. Take care of our teams. Take care of the guests who shop with us and do the right things in our communities.”
A national public education campaign on Target, spearheaded by Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the NNPA’s board of directors, and with other national African American leaders, has combined consumer education efforts with a call for selective buying. The NNPA is a trade association that represents the more than 220 African American-owned newspapers and media companies known as the Black Press of America, the voice of 50 million African Americans across the nation. The coalition has requested that Target restore and expand its stated commitment to do business with local community-owned businesses inclusive of the Black Press of America, and to significantly increase investment in Black-owned businesses and media, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU, Black-owned Banks, national Black Church denominations, and grassroots and local organizations committed to improving the quality of life of all Americans, and especially those from underserved communities. According to Target’s latest earnings report, net sales for the first quarter of 2025 fell 2.8 percent to $23.85 billion compared to the same period last year. Comparable store sales dropped 3.8 percent, and in-store foot traffic slid 5.7 percent.
Shares of Target have also struggled under the pressure. The company’s stock traded around $103.85 early Wednesday afternoon, down significantly from roughly $145 before the controversy escalated. Analysts note that Target has lost more than $12 billion in market value since the beginning of the year. “We will continue to inform and to mobilize Black consumers in every state in the United States,” Chavis said. “Target today has a profound opportunity to respond with respect and restorative commitment.”
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