Joe,
Thanks for the thread. This is going to be quite an adventure.
To answer your questions,
1.Yes, still employed, at least as of now
2. Yes, we have the blessing and the coordination of the host clubs involved. Playing different courses at St Andrews and Pinehurstvwill help. And I'm sure people will be made aware in advance that the event is going on. At Cabot, it helps to be playing with the owner
3. My original plan was to hike for Evans Scholars, but I learned a bit about the caddie program last year from Jim Urbina and found out a lot more about it from Don Placek from Renaissance Golf (an Evans alum) in January. I see it as a feeder program for the Evans Scholars -- identifying 14-15 year olds from the diverse area around commonground and providing them with a great opportunity. Plus similar to the Midnight Golf Program in Detroit that we supported via the recent fundraiser auction ($20k raised!), they provide life skills and leadership training to the kids as well, which I think is tremendous and exactly the type of thing I hoped to support through my charity.
Ed Mate from the Colorado Golf Association (an Evans alum) is extremely passionate about this program and its potential to help kids in the community, while also promoting caddie golf and walking golf to people who might otherwise just instinctively hop on a cart. I think it has real potential to be a model that can be leveraged to other areas of the country, which is another reason that I was drawn to it as a cause.
This is probably as good a time as any to say if anybody is interested in starting or participating in a hike this summer, please reach out to me via PM or at jim@onedivot.org. Brett Morrissy and our Australian friends really got our year started on the right foot (8 hikers, ~$25000 raised), so we hope to continue that momentum. Other than the courses mentioned above, we have hikes set-up at Medinah, Flossmoor Country Club, Dismal River to name a few.