Continuing its strong fundraising efforts, the Little City Foundation Invitational Golf Tournament raised $375,000 at its annual event Aug. 16, making this year's invitational one of the most successful in the tournament's 47-year history.

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The proceeds from the golf fundraiser will be used to support the Palatine-based Little City Foundation, which provides services and programs, including residential care, for children and adults with developmental disabilities. The agency is currently celebrating 50 years of dedicated service to Illinois families.

More than 200 golfers took part in the event, which has become the organization's most successful fundraiser in the last several years. For the third straight year, the invitational took place at the prestigious, 36-hole Twin Orchard Country Club in Long Grove.

"The economy continues to be a challenge for events such as this, but thanks to the ongoing support we receive from philanthropic individuals, businesses and corporations, the Little City Invitational was a great success this year," said Ed Hockfield, a business consultant and resident of Long Grove, who co-chaired the event with Jennifer Quinn, a partner in the Chicago law firm of Ungaretti & Harris and Park Ridge resident. "Our committee worked hard to make the invitational a success, and they once again did a great job this year."

Hockfield also attributed the success of the tournament to the selection of Patrick Larmon as this year's recipient of the Morrie Kellman Humanitarian Award. Larmon is the President and CEO of Bunzl Distribution USA, Inc., a St. Louis-based distributor of products that includes outsourced food packaging, disposable supplies, and cleaning and safety products.

Larmon has played in several Little City Invitational tournaments in the past to support the organization. He is also very active in community service, both in the Chicago and St. Louis areas, including serving on the national board of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

"Pat is highly respected in his industry and for the humanitarian efforts he has either led or participated in over many years," Hockfield said. "Many of those people took part in our event this year not only to support Little City, but Pat as well, and we are grateful for their efforts."

The Morrie Kellman award is named for the founder of the Little City Invitational Golf Tournament in 1963. The event has developed into one of the oldest ongoing golf tournaments in the country hosted by a nonprofit.

"I am grateful for this honor, and I look forward to supporting Little City in the future as it continues to provide outstanding services to people with disabilities," Larmon told the large crowd that gathered for dinner after the tournament play. "This has been a great day, especially since I could share it with my family."

An array of live and silent auctions were featured during the evening's festivities, including golf at the ultra exclusive Rich Harvest Farms in west suburban Sugar Grove, site of the 2009 Solheim Cup; skybox seats for a Chicago Bears game; courtside seats to a Chicago Bulls game; and a week's stay at a luxurious 10,000 sq. ft. home in Punta Mita, Mexico.

One of the highlights of the evening was a special fundraising pledge to help raise money for a revamped fitness center for Little City. Thanks to a matching gift pledge of $25,000 and the pledges made at the dinner, the full $65,000 was raised to purchase new equipment and remodel the current fitness center at the Palatine campus.

As always, another highlight during the dinner was provided by Jerry Rose, 56, a self-taught musician and longtime resident of Little City Foundation who was born blind and developmentally disabled. Rose performed music by the Beatles and Elvis Presley.

To support individuals with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities, visit www.littlecity.org/support.

About Little City Foundation

For more than 50 years, Little City Foundation has developed innovative and personalized programs to fully assist and empower children and adults with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities. With a commitment to attaining a greater quality of life for Illinois' most vulnerable citizens, Little City actively promotes choice, person-centered planning and a holistic approach to health and wellness. Little City's ChildBridge services include in-home personal and family supports, clinical and behavior intervention, 24/7 residential services and special needs foster care and adoption. Little City's LifePath Adult Services offers a variety of residential options, employment opportunities, home-based services, case management, day supports, Special Olympics, an award-winning Center for the Arts and more. The organization has a 56-acre campus in Palatine and offices in Chicago.  Visit www.littlecity.org. 

About Bunzl Distribution USA, Inc.

Bunzl Distribution USA, Inc. supplies a range of products, including outsourced food packaging, disposable supplies, and cleaning and safety products to food processors, supermarkets, retailers, convenience stores and other users. Based in St. Louis, Mo., Bunzl Distribution, with sales of over $3.8 billion, is the largest division of Bunzl plc, an international distribution and outsourcing group headquartered in London. Bunzl Distribution owns and operates more than 90 warehouses that serve all 50 states and Puerto Rico, as well as Canada, the Caribbean and parts of Mexico. With 3,500 employees and more than 250,000 different supply items, Bunzl is regarded as a leading supplier in North America. Worldwide sales are in excess of $6 billion. Throughout its history, the company has maintained a strong commitment to productivity, delivering both quality service and competitive pricing. As it looks to the future, Bunzl Distribution is focused on increasing productivity, enhancing customer service and exploring new business opportunities. Visit www.bunzldistribution.com/.

SOURCE Little City Foundation

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PING and its parent company, Karsten Manufacturing Corporation, announced today that they have entered into an agreement with Apple under which Apple will use the PING trademark in connection with Apple's innovative new social music discovery feature in iTunes.  Apple introduced the iTunes PING feature today.

Founded in 1959, PING is a famous premium brand that holds more than 1000 trademark registrations around the world, many related to golf equipment.   The company also owns trademark rights in PING for social networking and other online services.  

This announcement involves two companies that were founded by visionaries who created products that greatly impacted their industries.  Karsten Solheim invented the PING® putter in his Redwood City, California garage and went on to revolutionize the golf equipment industry.   The groundbreaking first Apple® computer was developed in nearby Palo Alto in 1976.

"We are pleased to enter into this agreement with Apple," said John Solheim, Chairman and CEO of Karsten Manufacturing Corporation and PING.  "Like PING, Apple carries a reputation for innovation and quality.  I have always had great respect for companies that have changed and improved the ways things are done and I continue to model PING along those lines.  Apple is a truly great example of this kind of enterprise."

About PING

PING designs, manufactures and markets a complete line of golf equipment including metal woods, irons, putters and golf bags. The family-owned company was founded in 1959 in the garage of the late Karsten Solheim, a mechanical engineer with an extensive background in the aerospace and computer industries. His frustration with his putting inspired him to design his own putter, which created a "pinging" sound when striking a golf ball. This sound was the source of the name now synonymous with innovation, quality and service throughout the world of golf. Solheim and his company are credited with numerous innovations that became industry standards, including perimeter weighting, custom fitting and the use of investment casting in the manufacturing of golf clubs.  His insistence on adhering to strict engineering principles and tight manufacturing tolerances raised the level of product performance and quality throughout the golf industry.  Solheim is the only person to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame as a golf club manufacturer. Today, the Phoenix-based company is under the direction of Solheim's youngest son, John A. Solheim.  PING game-improvement products can be found in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit www.ping.com.

PING is a registered trademark of Karsten Manufacturing Corporation. Other trademarks mentioned are properties of their respective owners.

SOURCE PING

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As baseball fans ready for the dramatic moments and memorable plays that decide pennant races and define postseason play, MLB.com announced today that it is offering a limited time discount – 50% – on its industry-leading and award-winning lineup of mobile applications for Apple, BlackBerry and Android devices. Now through September 7 at 11:59 p.m. (EDT), fans can purchase MLB.com At Bat 2010 in the Apple App Store, BlackBerry App World or Android Market for a one-time fee of just $6.99.

At Bat 2010 for Apple, BlackBerry and Android devices provides exclusive and reliable mobile access to live Major League Baseball games through the final out of the 2010 World Series. Every radio feed, including home- and visiting-team broadcasters, and in-game video highlights are at fans' fingertips, as is the real-time presentation of official pitch tracking data with MLB.com Gameday.

In addition, subscribers to At Bat 2010 for Apple's iPhone, iPod touch and iPad can access their MLB.TV subscriptions to watch the live home and away broadcast feeds for every out-of-market regular season game and get access to an array of enhanced features such as statistical overlays and controls to pause or rewind live game action. At Bat 2010 also offers the At Bat.TV Free Game of the Day, subject to blackout restrictions.

MLB.com At Bat 2010 will be available for the remainder of the 2010 regular season and postseason. The mobile applications were developed exclusively by MLB Advanced Media, LP (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball.

MLB.com: Where Baseball is Always On

SOURCE MLB.com

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PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North America business unit kicks-off high school football season with the "Score for Your School" program for Texans only that invites fans to help schools win up to a $10,000 donation for their sports programs. Beginning today, Texas fans can visit www.scoreforyourschool.com, enter the 9-digit product code from ANY Frito-Lay product (chips, dips, salsa and more) and then select the Texas high school of their choice.

"Frito-Lay snacks and high school football are a Texas tradition," said Michael Del Pozzo, director, marketing, Frito-Lay North America. "As high school sports programs face many challenges, we thought this promotion would be an easy and fun way for fans to help. Now, each single purchase can add up for a chance to win up to $10,000 for their school when they go online and 'Score for their School'."

The Texas "Score for Your School" program begins today and runs through Dec. 31, 2010. Frito-Lay is donating a total of $90,000 to high schools across the state. Each high school is grouped according to its listing in Texas' six divisional classes (5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, 1A and Private). Schools collect one point for each Frito-Lay snack a fan purchases and then registers on the "Score for Your School" website. First-place ($10,000), second-place ($4,000), and third-place ($1,000) prizes will be awarded to the top three schools in each division that collect the most points from their fans.

The program is only open to Texas residents 13 and older at the time of registration. Visit www.scoreforyourschool.com for more information.

Frito-Lay North America

Frito-Lay North America is the $13 billion convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY.  Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate Web site, http://www.fritolay.com/, the Snack Chat blog, http://www.snacks.com/ and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/fritolay.

PepsiCo offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that each generates more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. Our main businesses - Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade - also make hundreds of other nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy to our consumers in more than 200 countries. With annualized revenues of nearly $60 billion, PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance with Purpose. By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad array of choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with giving back to our communities worldwide. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

SOURCE Frito-Lay North America

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