Pictured: Maggie Wellborn (center) leads a For Glove of the Game softball clinic in Decatur, Georgia.
Philanthropy and social change work are at their best when they are driven by your values and connected to what you care about most.
Charles Bronfman
The Great Traits that Bill Curry has instilled over the years in thousands of student-athletes and colleagues include compassion and love. When it comes to “Unexpected, Undeserved, Unrewarded Acts of Kindness” like that shown to the scared rookie – Bill – by legendary Green Bay Packer Willie Davis, Bill and the other principals of AIM lead by both word and action. After Bill saw a recent news story about an Atlanta track club for underprivileged youths that lost its trailer and thousands of dollars of equipment to theft, AIM leapt into action. AIM replaced every stolen item with newer, better equipment and made an additional donation to allow the club to purchase a replacement trailer. AIM as an organization is simply carrying on a long tradition of service and compassion by its principals who are “hands on” active in a number of charitable organizations, many of which benefit student-athletes in need.
BILL CURRY
It is impossible to calculate the number of hours that Bill has spent, over the course of his five-decade career in sports and media, giving back to those less fortunate than him. Bill is both benefactor and go-to event MC for Action Ministries, which provides shelter, meals, education, and other resources to the most vulnerable members of society in the Greater Atlanta area. Bill is also a benefactor and Board Member of Women Alone Together (an organization that provides advice, companionship, and education for women who are divorced, widowed, or otherwise “alone”) and of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation. Bill makes countless personal appearances for the benefit of numerous charitable organizations, including the United Way, the Boy Scouts, the Rotary Club, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, the ALS Association (on whose Board Bill also sits), the Poverty Action Conference, the Orange Duffel Bag Foundation, the Salvation Army, the Eagle Ranch Youth Foundation, and school districts across the country. Bill and his wife, Dr. Carolyn N. Curry, have also endowed scholarships at Georgia Tech and Agnes Scott. Most important, though, in the thousands of young people whom he has taught, coached, and/or mentored over the years, Bill has inspired “Magnanimitas” – a greatness of spirit and soul – by instilling through both word and example compassion, perseverance, love, and the other Great Traits that mean so much to him and that inspire people to become champions in all that they do.
JEFF BATTCHER
Jeff Battcher has spent the substantial portion of his life helping Georgia’s less fortunate citizens. Among other organizations, Jeff serves on the Board of Directors for the Otis Redding Foundation; the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings (Mercer); and Central Georgia C.A.R.E.S. (which, with mascot “AC PUP,” works to ensure the humane treatment of animals). Jeff also serves on the Education Committee for the Macon, Georgia United Way; is a member of the Cornerstone Society, which supports National Public Radio; and is active in Macon’s Daybreak, which benefits the homeless. Even in relation to philanthropic activities, Jeff does not stray far from athletics. Jeff’s most noteworthy charitable success involves his work on behalf of Major League Baseball’s “Revitalizing Baseball in Inner-cities” (“RBI”) program, which provides baseball equipment and coaching to socioeconomically-challenged youths. After founding the Macon chapter of RBI, Jeff was able in just the first year of its operation to secure an all-expenses paid, weeklong trip to the Major League Baseball All-Star game for a dozen young underprivileged athletes from Macon. Jeff has also been instrumental in organizing an annual Atlanta Hawks-sponsored basketball clinic for at-risk youths. Jeff’s generosity even extends beyond the U.S. borders – he has become a champion of youth sports in Greece and has spearheaded the provision of soccer gear and equipment for that country’s less fortunate young boys and girls.
PETE WELLBORN
Pete Wellborn is an active volunteer in support of a variety of charitable, educational, and pro bono causes. His philanthropic efforts include pro bono legal work for deserving 501(c)(3) clients, including the Johnny Gant Foundation, the Fatherless Daughter Project, and Women Alone Together. Pete has coached roughly 50 seasons of youth basketball, softball, and soccer, including seven seasons of softball at a region champion high school in Atlanta. In 2011, along with his then-sixteen year old daughter and co-founder Maggie, Pete established For Glove of the Game (“FGTG”), an entity dedicated to ensuring that no deserving Atlanta-area youth or high school softball player lacks the equipment or training to achieve her softball-related goals. For nearly two decades, Wellborn served as a mentor for at-risk students at Eugenia Hamilton Elementary School (“EHES”) in Macon, Georgia. Pete has also taught, on a volunteer basis, a number of law-related courses at Georgia Tech (where he also tutored student-athletes in a variety of other courses), Mercer Law School, and Georgia State University. Pete’s devotion to public service dates back to his hometown of Macon, where he was a member of the Advisory Council to the Georgia Lung Association, was chairperson of the Bibb County Math Tournament, tutored inmates at the Bibb County Transitional Center, and tutored homeless youth at the Georgia Industrial Home. Pete and his family are benefactors of several other organizations as well, including the United Way, No Kid Hungry, the Boys & Girls Clubs, and Action Ministries.