A personal letter from the Chair of the Children’s Heart Classic, Jordan Rackie

Greetings,

Thank you for considering to participate and/or be a sponsor in the 2025 Children’s Heart Classic charity golf tournament, with 100% of the net proceeds benefiting the Children’s Heart Foundation. Since 1996, the foundation has funded over $18 million in research to advance the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of Congenital Heart Defects (CHD), making it the leading organization solely focused on funding CHD research.

As Chair of this event, funding CHD research is particularly personal for me, as my mother is a CHD ‘heart warrior.’ At just two years old, she was diagnosed with Coarctation of the Aorta (a type of CHD), required heart surgery at six years old, and was told she wouldn’t live past 40 years old. Fast forward 60+ years and multiple heart operations later (including one as recent as 2022), and thanks to advances funded by foundations like this, she is still able to live a good life, being there for the people that matter and rely on her most, as a mother, wife, friend, and grandmother to my three year old son, William.

Was my mom’s diagnosis rare? To the contrary. Every 15 minutes a baby is born with CHD in the United States, and one in 100 babies are born with CHD. Comparatively, one in 3,400 babies are born with cystic fibrosis, and one in 6,000 children are diagnosed with cancer. Was my mom’s success story rare? Unfortunately, her outcome is more uncommon than we’d like… as still today 25% of babies born with critical CHD won't live to see their first birthday, and CHDs are the leading cause of infant deaths related to birth defects. That said, there is amazing hope and many positive outcomes in the world thanks to research and advancements that come from fundraising events like this. In fact, since 1999 there has been almost a 40% decrease in death rates. And for some lucky people, including public figures like Shaun White, Dick Cheney, Teddy Bruschi, and Shawn Mendes, they’ve been able to come out on the other side of surgeries and procedures, and thrive in their daily lives!

While CHD research is grossly underfunded and lacks its merited awareness, your donations and participation at events like this help close these gaps. I thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to seeing you out on the course, having a great time, for a great cause.

Please visit our website here to sponsor/register!

Jordan?

Jordan Rackie, Chair, Children’s Heart Classic?