STEW LEONARD III CHILDREN’S CHARITIES
ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT TOPS MILLION DOLLAR MARK

Monies Raised Benefit Water Safety and other Children’s Health and Education Initiatives

MIDDLEFIELD, Conn., June 16, 2006 – What started eleven years ago with 50 participants raising $450.00 for water safety, has swelled to 300 golfers generating more than $140,000 at the annual Stew Leonard III Children’s Charities golf tournament. The monies raised at this year’s tournament puts the total dollars raised over the history of the charity golf tournament to above the one million dollar mark.

“Thousands of children have received swim lesson scholarships through the money the golf tournament has raised, in addition to helping local YMCAs purchase much needed water safety equipment and lifeguard training,” said Stew Leonard, Jr. who with his wife, Kimberly, founded the Stew Leonard III Water Safety Foundation (now called Stew Leonard III Children’s Charities Foundation) in memory of their son Stewie, who died in a drowning accident in 1989 when he was just 21 months old. The Foundation also sponsors water safety awareness events, including book readings, children’s concerts and health fairs.

“The Stew Leonard III Children’s Charities Foundation has provided more than $100,000 worth of scholarships to the Fairfield County chapter of Swim America, a nationally certified learn to swim program offered by the American Swimming Coaches Association,” said Rob Polley, program director, Swim America. “Without this generous gift, many families in Fairfield County could not have afforded swimming lessons for their children. There is no doubt in my mind that Kim and Stew, through the Foundation’s work, have helped save lives.”

The golf tournament is the Foundation’s major fundraising event. The tournament is held on the two golf courses at Lyman Orchards in Middlefield, Conn. and includes major sponsors such as Pepsi, Poland Springs, Dole and Cargill. At the tournament dinner, a raffle is held that raises an additional $11,000 and includes prizes such as Sony flat screen TV’s, golf equipment, American Express gift checks, sporting events and iPods. Other fundraising efforts include food and wine tasting events through Stew Leonard’s food stores, where Stew Leonard, Jr. is president and CEO. In addition, Stew donates all proceeds from his Washington Speakers Bureau engagements back into the Children’s Charities fund.

Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death in children under five. This statistic prompted the Leonard’s to publish in 2002 the first book to teach young children about the importance of water safety, titled Stewie the Duck Learns to Swim, which received a National Water Safety Youth Education Award from the National Water Safety Congress. In 2005, the Leonard’s wrote a follow-up book, Swimming Lessons with Stewie the Duck, to help address the skills and fears children face when they first start taking swimming lessons. Thousands of copies of the books are donated annually to children’s hospitals and at water safety events, such as the free family concert at the Levitt Pavilion in Westport, which will be held this year on June 28. The Leonard’s next project is translating the books into Spanish.

The Foundation changed its name this year from the Stew Leonard III Water Safety Foundation to the Stew Leonard III Children’s Charities, in order to broaden the scope of their community contributions to include educational and health-oriented charitable organizations aimed at children. Stew Leonard III Children’s Charities recently made a $25,000 contribution to the South Norwalk Branch Library’s 21st Century Fund to go towards renovating the children’s library.

For more information on the Stew Leonard III Children’s Charities foundation, please visit www.stewietheduck.com