A donation to the Principal Charity Classic means support toward our Tournament Charity Partners who serve Iowa kids. Alongside donations collected for Birdies For Charity, these tournament donations help positively impact more than 130,000 Iowa children.
Below is a testimonial from Alma’s family who was gifted a bike through Variety – The Children’s Charity, just one of the many examples of how the Principal Charity Classic, and your support impacts Iowa.
Riding bikes is always something we have done as a family. With our older two boys, Alma’s brothers, that meant riding to the park and neighbors homes. It meant learning how to ride in the middle of the street or in an empty parking lot. When Alma turned 4, you could see she was itching to gain that same sense of freedom she saw her brothers have on their bikes. We knew it would be difficult with her cerebral palsy, but we looked into options like tricycles, pedal bikes, etc. Despite her determination, her hemiplegia was preventing her from not only the pedaling but the balance riding a bike of any kind required.
At her weekly physical therapy appointments, she started to ride around the halls in this same adaptive bike they had at the Children’s hospital. Every week, she would ride out to the waiting room, or even the parking lot to meet me on her bike, with her therapist. She GLOWED. You could see her focus, and her excitement when she would crack a smile because it was uncontainable. She was serious, yet so joyful. We noticed that what she was really in need of was a bike she could hold onto with one hand, a bike where she could use the strength of her left leg to propel the pedals, and a bike where she could be safely strapped in and balanced. This bike had all of those accommodations.
When we found out she would be gifted one from Variety – the Children’s Charity, it was so emotionally overwhelming as a parent. We were overcome with so much gratitude; she was about to experience an activity that brings a sense of independence to kids that we may take for granted.
She received her bike in November, and we waited for the perfect day where she could give it her first ride at home. In Iowa, we didn’t have to wait long before the weather had a change of mind. 
We simply rode to the park. Her brothers on their bikes leading the way, and her little sister hanging on tight in the basket below. She was a part of the gang. She was equally included. She was independent and taking part in an activity we weren’t sure was going to be possible for her.
This bike, as overzealous as it might sound, has been life changing, because being able to ride a bike, to a 5 year old, IS life changing. Giving her the accommodations she needed has allowed her to enjoy a simple activity that is pivotal in her childhood. Equity is freedom.
She still asks every day to ride her bike, and now has enough strength to steer herself and brake. So now, she flies down the sidewalk, wind blowing and all, to show us how awesome she is. And, although a year older, her 2 year old sister, still likes to squeeze down below in the basket for the (probably) not-so-safe ride. – Alma’s mom Amanda
About Variety – The Children’s Charity
On October 10, 1927 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, eleven young men affiliated with show business met at the William Penn Hotel for the first meeting of their newly formed social club. The gentlemen decided on the name “The Variety Club” because they represented a variety of facets of the entertainment business. The club received its official charter from the State of Pittsburgh on Oct. 18, 1928.
But The Variety Club’s true calling came a few months later on Christmas Eve, 1928, when the manager of the Sheridan Square Theatre in Pittsburgh found an infant abandoned in the theatre. The baby girl had a note pinned to her clothing:
“Please take care of my baby. Her name is Catherine. I can no longer take care of her. I have eight others. My husband is out of work. She was born on Thanksgiving Day. I have always heard of the goodness of show business people and pray to God that you will look after her.
Signed, A heartbroken mother”
Today, Variety – the Children’s Charity has a network of 44 chapters in 13 countries, and many millions of individual children around the world, like Catherine, live a better life because of the generosity of Variety’s donors, sponsors and supporters.
Learn more about Variety, www.varietyiowa.com
