As shown in The Del Mar Times
2/6/2017
Donations from the locally-based George & Betty Harbaugh Charitable Foundation continue to make a difference in the region.

For the third year in a row the Harbaugh Foundation funded Patriots’ Outpost at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, held in Janaury, giving back to military men and women.

Patriots’ Outpost is a private chalet located on the 13th hole of the popular PGA tour stop made exclusively available to veterans and active duty servicemen and women. Last year Patriots’ Outpost hosted nearly 2,000 active military and veterans, and provided lunch, refreshments and a spectacular and up-close viewing outpost for all in attendance.

In addition, this year the Harbaugh Foundation is introducing a $10,000 scholarship titled the “Harbaugh Patriot Award,” which will be given annually to a deserving Navy SEAL. The scholarship will cover tuition to the Honor Foundation – a unique transition readiness institute created exclusively for Navy SEALs and the U.S. Special Operations community as they transition from military to civilian life.

The recipient this year is Brandon Myers, a Navy SEAL-in-training who suffered a debilitating injury on the obstacle course during training last year that nearly claimed his life. Myers also served as the 2017 Ambassador during the tournament at the Harbaugh Foundation Patriots’ Outpost.

In addition to the scholarship, Myers, as well as the Farmers Open tournament champion, received a rugged RESCO timepiece that has become synonymous with Navy SEALS. The watch was designed and tested by Navy SEALS and is currently worn by more than 100 of these elite warriors in the day-to-day execution of their duties.

“Sponsoring Patriots’ Outpost and creating the Harbaugh Patriot Award falls in line with one of the primary objectives of the Harbaugh Foundation, which is to honor and serve our American freedom fighters in any way we are able,” said Joe Balla, director of the George & Betty Harbaugh Charitable Foundation, and a longtime resident of Del Mar and Solana Beach.

The Harbaugh Foundation was created in 2014 to honor George and Betty Harbaugh, who loved San Diego and quietly supported the military their entire lives. Among those benefiting from the Harbaugh Foundation’s gifts are the Jessie Rees Foundation, Easter Seals, Starkey Hearing Foundation, Scripps Health Foundation, the J. Craig Venter Institute and various wounded warrior causes.

In 2015 the Harbaugh Foundation donated $1.15 million to save the controversial piece of property bordering San Elijo Lagoon, formerly known as Gateway Park. Now, as Harbaugh Seaside Trails, it will forever be protected as an asset of the people of Solana Beach with wide-open and unobstructed view corridors.

More recently the Harbaugh Foundation funded transformation and landscape upgrades (which will soon be revealed) for the popular Carpentier Parkway in Cardiff-by-the-Sea. Balla and the Harbaugh Foundation have worked closely in conjunction with the Cardiff-by-the-Sea Foundation – again with the intent to preserve ecological assets important to the North County community.

The George and Betty Harbaugh Charitable Foundation is a 501(c)(3) created in 2014 as a purpose-driven philanthropy committed to impactful giving and the thoughtful advancement of human achievement.