News CHARITY P
artial proceeds from a local charity event next month in Surrey, British Columbia, and one with school bus ties, will go to an
Autism foundation founded by professional golfer Ernie Els. Bob LeBlevec, regional manager for Gatekeep-
er Systems, and wife Sue held their 25th Annual Curling Bonspiel Invitational that invites friends for a day of curling followed by dinner and silent auction. The event started as a birthday party in the early 1990s. Bob said his friends asked him what he wanted to do to celebrate. “I said, ‘You know what, I always wanted to curl.’ I had seen it on TV, so I went and rented the ice and bought an old trophy, which we still have.” Working in the restaurant industry at the time, Bob also rounded up gift certificates as prizes for he and then-girlfriend Sue’s 25 guests. “They went crazy,” said Bob. “So we did it the
next year, and it grew.” The prizes grew more elaborate, and after Bob married Sue, she suggested that they evolve the invitational into a fundraiser for children’s charities, including those specializing in services for children
A Hole in One for Kids
Golf great Ernie Els channels son’s
experiences with autism into state-of- the-art center for education, therapy and life-planning
WRITTEN BY RYAN GRAY | RYAN @
STNONLINE.COM T
From left: Pro golfer Ernie Els with Sue and Bob LeBlevec, whose curling invitational each year benefits the Els for Autism Foundation.
with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The first year brought in $3,200, and the amounts have grown ever since. “Now we raise more than $20,000 in one night
amongst friends. Pretty cool, eh?” said Bob. So much so that Bob and Sue, along with other donors, were invited by Ernie and Liezl Els last year to participate in a weekend golf tournament in Las Vegas.
“Ernie is unbelievable,” said Bob, who along with the Els has seen Autism hit close to home. Bob and Sue have a niece on the Autism Spectrum. Nick- named the “Big Easy,” Els has won more $76 million on the PGA and European Tours.
his spring, Te Els Center of Excellence will conclude its first school year. But for the
students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) educated there, the $35-million facility is a year- round partner. Te innovative Center in Jupiter,
Florida, near West Palm Beach, is named after professional golfer Er- nie Els. He and wife Liezl started Te Els for Autism Foundation in 2009, one year after their 5-year- old son Ben was diagnosed with ASD. Te state-of-the-art facility was approved by the Palm Beach County Commission under the category of a charter school, and as such it receives 80 percent of its funding from the state with the remainder coming from private donations. Officials called the school the first in Palm Beach County to solely serve children with autism from first grade through high school, followed by transition to adulthood. Like all charter schools, the Learning Center and
22 School Transportation News • MARCH 2016
the Renaissance Learning Acad- emy schools at Te Els Center of Excellence are open to all students ages 3 through 21 who reside in the area.
Te entire 100,000-square-
foot facility sits on 26 acres and provides a host of services that go well beyond that of a normal campus. Sure, there will be the classrooms and laboratories to go along with the cafeteria, gymna- sium, playgrounds, athletic fields and even a heated pool. But Te Els Center of Excellence will also provide students with ASD-spe- cific therapy and medical facilities, a sensory garden and an adult services building, even adding on- site housing for the oldest of the 300 students there. Te Els Center of Excellence
wouldn’t be complete without a driving range and pitch/putt green. Similarly, it would also not be a world-class educational experience without its own fleet of school buses, albeit a modest one in size. Pam Minelli heads the school’s grant writing program. She told
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