SAS and YMCA convey STEM drive, AI enjoyable to SAS Championship

Community initiative helps native lecturers, sparks pupil curiosity in expertise

CARY, N.C., Sep. 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Teachers throughout the nation usually dip into their very own pockets to cowl classroom wants, with STEM educators spending as a lot as $1,000 yearly, in keeping with the National Education Association. To assist ease that burden, data and AI leader SAS and the YMCA of the Triangle are gathering funds to buy college provides supporting STEM (science, expertise, engineering and math) training.

The online STEM donation drive runs from Sept. 24 to Oct. 12 and serves as a central charitable focus of the twenty fifth annual  SAS Championship, set for Oct. 6-12 at Prestonwood Country Club. Funds will assist the YMCA of the Triangle buy STEM provides for neighborhood colleges in want.

Alongside its signature 54-hole competitors that includes golf legends, the SAS Championship – one of many premier stops on the PGA Tour Champions circuit – presents a full lineup of neighborhood actions, together with the HBCU Invitational, Women’s Day, Folds of Honor Friday, a 5K, Food Truck Friday and  Fairway to Fun. Happening Friday, Oct. 10 from 4–8 p.m., Fairway to Fun is a household occasion that may embody an AI-focused expertise zone with interactive actions and prizes together with a spectacular 25^th anniversary firework celebration. Families finishing the Fairway to Fun spherical can even obtain a free one-week YMCA move. Guests can get pleasure from meals from native favorites equivalent to Cousins Maine Lobster, Barone Italian Grille, Arepa Culture NC, La Katrina Tacos, Bo’s Kitchen, Mister Softee and Holy Fries.

“As we celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the SAS Championship, we’re reminded that this tournament is more than just golf – it’s about giving back and strengthening our community,” stated Jenn Chase, SAS Chief Marketing Officer. “Last year’s launch of Fairway to Fun was a wonderful extension of that tradition, showing kids and families how AI and data can unlock creativity and problem-solving. We have some new activities planned this year while also providing the opportunity to inspire future innovators through our STEM education donation drive.”

Since its launch 25 years in the past, the SAS Championship has partnered with the YMCA of the Triangle to direct greater than $6 million to youth education schemes, together with the Y Learning program. This quantity contains SAS’ long-standing annual donation to assist Y Learning with $220,000 being donated for the 2025 occasion. This yr’s emphasis on STEM additional displays the corporate’s long-standing dedication to training, innovation and neighborhood engagement.

“The generosity of SAS Championship fans directly impacts our Y Learning students and teachers,” stated Kim Keith, Vice President of Youth Development at YMCA of the Triangle. “These supplies relieve pressure on educators and help ensure every student has what they need to succeed.”

The SAS Championship has change into a convention not just for world-class golf but in addition for its deep neighborhood funding. Highlights of this yr’s charitable and academic efforts embody:

• HBCU Invitational (Oct. 10-12): Now in its fourth yr, the event welcomes 16 groups from 12 traditionally Black schools and universities competing for $30,000 in honorariums from SAS for his or her golf packages. Students additionally attend a Career Day at SAS headquarters in Cary for networking, mentorship and profession exploration.
• Women’s Day (Oct. 7): This twelfth annual occasion presents inspiring periods on well being, mindset and management underneath the theme “Power in Progress.” This program is centered on management, progress, reinvention and adapting to a quickly altering world – highlighting mindset shifts, tech transformation and the continuing journey of progress.
• Folds of Honor Friday (Oct. 10): A shifting tribute to service members and first responders, that includes ceremonies, patriotic shows and 13 scholarships awarded to native college students. SAS additionally contributes $30,000 in the direction of Folds of Honor’s to fund life-changing scholarships to households of Americaʼs fallen or disabled army and first responders.

“The impact of the SAS Championship, touching so many parts of our community while reaching a global audience, is a tradition we can all be proud of,” stated Harold Weinbrecht, Mayor of Cary. “It is an honor to be one of the longest-tenured communities on the PGA Tour Champions and a joy for us all to witness a quarter of a century of golf legends playing through Cary at beautiful Prestonwood each year.”

Learn how one can help local STEM students succeed and be part of the SAS Championship enjoyable.

About the SAS Championship
For 25 years, the SAS Championship has offered numerous recollections for followers and attendees younger and outdated as {golfing} legends have walked the fairways of Prestonwood Country Club, battling for one of many largest purses on the PGA Tour Champions circuit. Recent champions have included World Golf Hall of Famers Fred Couples, Ernie Els, Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie. The event companions with the YMCA of the Triangle because the host charity, and in these 25 years, greater than $6 million has been donated to space youth instructional initiatives. Championship week contains occasions to convey the neighborhood collectively, together with the Championship 5K, Women’s Day, Food Truck Friday, Folds of Honor Friday and the HBCU Invitational.

About the YMCA of the Triangle
The YMCA of the Triangle is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has served Raleigh, Durham, Cary and the broader area since 1857. Today, the YMCA operates 19 facility branches throughout Wake, Chatham, Durham, Orange, Johnston and Lee counties, together with three in a single day camps: Camp Kanata in Wake Forest, and Camp Sea Gull and Camp Seafarer in Pamlico County. More than 235,000 youngsters, households and adults have interaction with the Y as members, campers, volunteers and donors, discovering connection, objective and neighborhood. In 2024, due to greater than $10.9 million in philanthropic assist, the Y expanded entry and alternative for greater than 25,000 folks by means of its packages and providers.

About SAS
SAS is a worldwide chief in information and AI. With SAS software program and industry-specific options, organizations remodel information into trusted choices. SAS provides you THE POWER TO KNOW^®.

SAS and all different SAS Institute Inc. services or products names are registered logos or logos of SAS Institute Inc. within the USA and different international locations. ® signifies USA registration. Other model and product names are logos of their respective firms. Copyright © 2025 SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.

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SOURCE SAS