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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | November 2007 
Ochoa Puts Charity First
 Jeff Shain - Miami Herald
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| | Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa, left, stands with Mexico's President Felipe Calderon during a ceremony for sporting leaders in Mexico City, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007. Ochoa received the National Prize for Sports Tuesday from Calderon. (AP/Gregory Bull) |
With every victory - and Lorena Ochoa had eight in 2007 - the high school comes a little closer to reality.
While several players at last week's ADT Championship spoke of jewelry or exotic cars when asked about what they would do with the $1 million winner's share, Ochoa, the No. 1 women's golfer, is investing in her homeland.
The Lorena Ochoa Foundation has financed an elementary school near Guadalajara, Mexico, where 325 impoverished children get an education and hot meals. A high school is the next goal.
"Whatever we need," Ochoa said after Sunday's two-shot victory put the LPGA's richest payday in her bank account.
"We have plans to buy land and to start construction at the high school, so I want to find good things to do with the money."
Ochoa also earmarked $100,000 of her ADT winnings for disaster relief in the Mexican state of Tabasco, where torrential flooding has left nearly half the homes damaged or cut off from supplies.
"The whole state is under water," she said.
Ochoa's philanthropic efforts are starting to get as much recognition as her golf. She recently was one of 11 women honored by Glamour magazine for excellence in and outside their fields of work. The foundation will receive an added boost next fall, when it becomes the beneficiary of the LPGA's new Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara.
"I have a responsibility and an opportunity," Ochoa said. "My foundation is my priority - golf is for sure up there, but it's a great joy to be able to help those kids in Mexico."
jshain@MiamiHerald.com |
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