A golfer's wife ushering 15 young children around the Bay Hill course in Florida as Justin Rose competed in the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week might have turned a few heads, particularly among the golfers who recognised Kate Rose, and knew that she wasn't the mother of such a large and excitable brood.
Wearing Adidas t-shirts bearing the logo 'Blessings in a Backpack’, and beneath another legend reading: ‘Supported by Justin and Kate Rose', were just a handful of the 1182 Orlando children who are being fed at the weekends by the Roses’ Foundation.
Rose and his wife, Kate, are involved with an innovative charitable venture in the United States called ‘Blessings in a Backpack’ which has become dear to their heart and is also supported by a number of US PGA Tour golfers as well as the US PGA Tour Wives Association.
Kate explained the premise behind the venture, which has become their charitable passion while living at Lake Nona in Orlando, alongside their sterling endeavours on behalf of Cancer Research UK back home, where Justin lost his father to leukaemia and Kate her mother to breast cancer.
“Basically, the 'Blessings in a Backpack' charity started from a conversation with a school nurse,” said Kate. “She couldn’t figure out why these young kids, aged from four to 11, were coming in on Mondays complaining of stomach pains, headaches and so on. It transpired that they hadn’t eaten over the weekend and were starving.
“During the week, underprivileged school children in America can qualify for a federal funded programme to receive lunch during the school week of Monday through Friday. But at weekends, they aren't necessarily getting fed adequately, and are struggling to come back to school on Monday ready to learn. And so 'Blessings in a Backpack' was born.”
Justin added: “The charity provides the food in a backpack on Fridays to last the youngsters over the weekend. 'Blessings in a Backpack' has been rolled out across 27 States now but we are most closely involved in Orlando, where we have raised enough money to sponsor over a thousand children in four different schools for a minimum of three years.”
Kate added: “Visiting these children leaves a powerful impression. They live around 20 minutes from us, but many will never venture more than a couple of miles away from their own area. It shows that not only South Africa has townships. I have befriended one little girl of seven who seems terribly malnourished - she is tiny for her age and some of her teeth appear to be rotting. The head teacher of one of these schools also told us that at least one parent is killed in a gun-related incident every year within a square mile around the school, so the teachers are having to deal with youngsters being raised without a mum or dad.
“He also said that the kids' lack of exposure to things like the ocean makes it tricky for them to learn concepts such as infinity, so we have arranged a few "Rose field trips" for the top year of eight year olds - 15 of them saw the golf at Bay Hill recently - and we are taking all 80 of them to the beach in April, which we are all really looking forward to."
Last year, at an initial fund-raiser at Lake Nona, the Roses helped to raise around $188,000 for Blessings in a Backpack and have plans to follow up this October with another fundraiser.
Justin and Kate know they are on the right side of the tracks, living the American dream with their two year old son Leo. Fortunately, through their selfless dedication, many deprived children are also counting their blessings.
