There was a moment earlier this month in Miami when a young girl climbed into Sandra Gal’s lap and asked, “Can you just stay here forever?”
It was a moment that won’t leave Gal. A moment that points to the heart of what she’s trying to accomplish at the Sandra Gal Children’s Center: Provide a safe space for kids who are homeless.
It was during a pro-am party at the Volunteers of America Classic that Gal first approached VOA CEO Mike King about ways they could partner together. Gal, who already had an annual fundraiser geared toward helping the homeless, wanted to create a center for children that focused on mindfulness and provided a safe haven as their parents worked to get their lives back on track.
The center opened in August, and Gal visited in December to meet some of the staff and children and add artwork to the walls. When someone is homeless, the VOA helps to find a job and housing. Now, while parents are receiving this coaching, their kids can go next door to Gal’s new center. Once the families are settled, at-risk children can keep coming back to do their homework and take up new passions like music, yoga, even golf.
“I think that a lot of the families there, the kids there,” said Gal, “they just don’t have any other outlets and a way to deal with what they go through.”
It was at a café in San Francisco three years ago that Gal began brainstorming the idea of the center with JG Larochette, founder of the Mindful Life Project. Larochette came to Miami to train the staff in how to teach mindfulness to kids. Larochette’s website defines mindfulness as the “specific and strategic practice of paying attention on purpose to the present moment without judgement.”
Gal herself has been on this journey of mindfulness for nearly a decade, learning how to create more balance in her life and not be so results-driven.
“Just seeing her want to share the life and the light that she has,” said good friend Amy Olson, “it’s just fun to support that.”
Olson was one of several players who drove up from Naples, Florida, after the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship to help Gal raise money at her annual charity event at Concession Golf Club in Bradenton. So far the event has raised around $100,000 toward the center.
LPGA players routinely help one another raise funds for various causes. Since Olson returned from a trip to Africa four years ago with LPGA Hall of Famer Betsy King, she has raised money for five additional wells to provide clean water to families across the globe.
“I love golf, and I love playing great golf, and I love being competitive,” said Olson, “but at the end of the day if that’s all it is, it’s still empty.”
A refreshed Gal is curious to see what 2020 brings. In a way, the 34-year-old views it as a step into the unknown after taking a medical break from the tour to heal from the lingering effects of dormant Lyme Disease. She’d struggled with low energy levels since the summer of 2018.
Gal took the opportunity to attend several retreats and workshops in Italy that she says were immensely transformative.
“I think as an athlete, basically you’re just trying to put on your strongest self every day,” said Gal. “Of course, that’s been a huge strength of mine – at some point, it kind of creeps into your personal life. I don’t think I had a healthy outlet of showing who I really am, and maybe not being completely myself on the golf course and with other people. I think that this really maybe allows me now to be more vulnerable – share more of my sides that are not so pretty or don’t feel good or are afraid.”
Gal said her previous strategy was to isolate herself and not open up. Even now at her charity event, she finds herself relating to her peers in a different way. She has been open to her fans about the journey on social media as well – even dancing from time to time.
“I feel a lot more alive,” Gal said.
While the popular German has yet to decide what her schedule will look like in 2020, she already knows that she’ll be giving herself more space for what she needs beyond work. Things like dancing, singing, meditating, going on retreats, connecting with other people and nature.
And giving back.
“When people see us,” said Olson, “they see us as a number on a money list. They know if you’ve had a good or bad year based on how much money you’ve made. But having a good year is not defined by a number on a money list.”
As Gal can attest, there’s so much more to celebrate.
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