The International Polo Club Palm Beach and Grand Champions Polo Club will celebrate the opening of the Neil S. Hirsch Family Boys & Girls Club and honor its namesake with a day of polo next month.
The “Great Futures Celebrity Polo Match” and “Great Futures Brunch at Polo,” both benefiting the local Wellington club, are planned for Sunday, March 9 by event chairs Melissa and Marc Ganzi, Terrie and Ray Mooney, and Keith and Penny Williams.
Boys & Girls Club Polo Day kicks off at 10 a.m. with a celebrity, three-team, round-robin polo match featuring honorary event chairs, Ralph Lauren’s “Face of Polo” Nacho Figueras and America’s Most Wanted star John Walsh.
“We are so pleased to be hosting the celebrity polo match here at Grand Champions,” said Marc Ganzi, polo player and owner of the Grand Champions Polo Club with his wife, Melissa. “Neil Hirsch has set a great example for our polo community by giving back to those who need us most here in Wellington — our children. We wanted to do everything possible to raise the awareness of this life-changing organization. This celebrity match will help us make an impact.”
The morning match will be free to the public. The three teams will also include top polo professionals and patrons of the game.
The celebrity match will be followed by a 12:30 p.m. brunch at the International Polo Club Palm Beach. “We are expecting 150 sponsors and guests to join us for a wonderful culinary experience, followed by the 3 p.m. Piaget Gold Cup match,” said Ray Mooney, IPC’s director of facilities and a member of the board of directors of the Wellington Boys & Girls Club. “March 9 will be Boys & Girls Club Day at IPC. Our club children and their families will have the opportunity to be an integral part of our celebration, including the singing of the national anthem.”
A silent and live auction will be included in the festivities.
Proceeds from the day’s events will support the Neil S. Hirsch Boys & Girls Club in Wellington, one of 13 clubs run by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County.
“Our clubs provide services during non-school hours, as well as summer camp opportunities, to nearly 6,000 boys and girls from ages 6 to 18 throughout the county,” said Keith Williams, principal of Nievera Williams Design and a Boys & Girls Club Corporate Board member. “Clubs emphasize educational, vocational, social, recreational, health, leadership and character building skills in a positive and safe atmosphere. Through quality programs, the club experience provides children with the guidance they need to make a healthy transition from childhood to young adulthood.”
For more information about the March 9 events, call Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County CEO Jaene Miranda at (561) 847-6221.
ABOVE: (L-R) Melissa Ganzi, Neil Hirsch, Julie Kime, Ray and Terrie Mooney, and Penny Williams.
