Durham Reporter

When it comes to helping children who are facing adversity, SwingPals is on a mission to help them build health and character so they can overcome whatever challenges they’re facing.

"We use the game of golf, but the program is really about mindfulness,” SwingPals founder Doug Hodges told ABC 11 News. “It's about helping (our) students develop emotional regulation skills, self-awareness skills.”  

By using golf as the medium to help students develop mindfulness and other skills, the group, founded in 2009, empowers them to pursue their passion and fulfill their potential to create positive change in their community, SwingPals.org says.

The Durham-based nonprofit recently received a $10,000 donation from the Harold Varner III Foundation to help the group reach more children.

The program seems to yield visible results, those associated with SwingPals say.

"Just seeing the transformation within these children in just the short amount of time I've been here, that's just been so rewarding,” new administrator Brittany Johnson told ABC 11 News.

Cory Williams, a SwingPals coach and board member, agreed. "Just to see a person at that level look back and say, okay, this is cool, I'd like to get involved in this -- or lend a helping hand feels great,” he told ABC 11 News.

Varner, a Gastonia native and professional golfer, understands how sports can help round out a youngster. That understanding and his ties to golf likely factored into his decision to help SwingPals.

Hodges said the donation will help SwingPals reach more children. The group currently has a presence at four middle schools in the Durham Public School District, with the end goal to be available in all of the city's middle schools.

"For him (Varner) to see the work we're doing with minorities, children who lack resources here in Durham, that is so meaningful for us,” Hodges told ABC 11 News.