Champions Tour golfer Hale Irwin summed it up well a couple of weeks ago when he explained why his peers would rather play in Des Moines than Boca Raton, Fla., where the Allianz Championship tournament is moving next year and where many professional golfers live most of the year. The crowds don’t show up there, and golfers love to play to a crowd. In Florida, they might get 50 people standing at a hole, tops. At Glen Oaks Country Club, which will host a new Champions Tour event, the Principal Charity Classic, in 2007, as many as 1,000 people might be gathered for a close-up view of the action.

The Allianz Championship’s move to Florida was met with disappointment in Greater Des Moines. But Principal Financial Group Inc. has stepped forward as a title sponsor – a commitment that will cost the insurer $2.5 million annually – with twin goals of providing spectators with some great golf but, more important, giving them a chance to raise significant funds for local charities. Principal CEO J. Barry Griswell has set a short-term goal to raise $500,000, but thinks a $1 million long-term goal is in sight.

That’s great news for Central Iowa. Through a program aptly named “Fore Our Kids,” five non-profit groups – Blank Children’s Hospital, Bravo Greater Des Moines, Greater Des Moines Community Foundation, United Way of Central Iowa and Variety – The Children’s Charity of Iowa – will be beneficiaries.

Wells Fargo Bank Iowa also has stepped in as a presenting sponsor for $350,000 annually, hardly chump change. Together, these two large employers are improving the quality of life in Greater Des Moines. It’s not just about providing great golf for spectators, or even about the impact the event makes on the local economy, though those are important considerations.

A million dollars, or even half that, goes along way to helping children. Non-profits across the country are struggling. It’s refreshing to know that Greater Des Moines takes care of its own and that corporate citizens are leading the way.