At the recent PXG College Golf Showcase, two teams of college students competed to raise money for nonprofits, including The Semper Fi & America’s Fund. Watch PXG Founder, Bob Parsons sat down with The Fund’s chairman – Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph F. Dunford Jr. – and comedian/Marine Rob Riggle to discuss The Fund’s mission and how PXG will continue playing a part.
Video Transcript
Rob:
Gentlemen, what an honor it is to be here with you, two other Marines. I am a Marine as well. So Bob Parsons, you’ve done so much. And of course, General Dunford, you’ve done so much for Marines. Let’s talk about the Semper Fi Fund, the Semper Fi & America’s Fund now. I’ve been with this so long, back when it was just the Semper Fi Fund, but now we’ve added America’s Fund as well to that. Can you tell me if you don’t mind General, jumping in on this one? I’m curious, educate us on what the mission is.
General Dunford:
Sure. Well, as you know, Rob, a number of men and women who serve, have catastrophic wounds and injuries that really have a big impact in their lives. And so the primary purpose of the fund is to give them as much of the independence and the quality of life as they would’ve had in the context of their injuries.
Rob:
Well, and there is. When I talk to people about this, they say, “Well, isn’t the government taking care of that? Doesn’t Uncle Sam, isn’t they supposed to jump in and do that?” And yes, to a certain degree they do, but there’s always gaps. There’s always gaps. And I always feel like that’s what the Semper Fi & America’s Fund really helps to do. Is that accurate?
General Dunford:
Look, I couldn’t agree more. That’s exactly right. I mean, there’s only so much the government is going to do. And then the private sector has to pick up and fill those gaps as you talked about. And that’s exactly what we seek to do.
Rob:
Good. Awesome.
Rob:
Mr. Parson, you have spearheaded so many different projects, so many different ways to help our veterans, obviously being a big supporter of the Semper Fi & America’s Fund, you also do a lot in other ways. What are you happy to see going on here?
Bob Parsons:
Well, I love the fact that the Semper Fi Fund is being represented here and most capably by General Dunford, who heads it up now and he’s made a nice difference. The fund has made a tremendous difference. My wife and I have been supporting them for, I’d say the better part of 10 years, if not more than 10 years. And so we’re very excited about that. And we also have a number of other military organizations we support, but right at the moment, we’re focused on the Semper Fi Fund.
Rob:
Well, and you’ve always done a really good job too, of finding different ways, I’ve found, to support the Semper Fi Fund. Not only do you directly support them, but you also support them in other ways, by matching other people’s work, myself included. I had a golf tournament that I did for a while for the Semper Fi Fund. And you were always very gracious about, “Well, what did he raise? He raised that much? I’ll match it.” And it always doubled the numbers, which was, I found, just truly remarkable. And I always appreciated that too. So thank yovu.
Bob Parsons:
No, it’s always our pleasure to do something like that.
