/ PlayGolfAmerica.com

Through the Fold of Honor Foundation and Golf Patriot Day, Maj. Dan Rooney helps families who have lost loved ones during military duty.

The average age of dependents that lose a parent in Iraq is 5 years old to 8 years old. College is far off on the horizon. But Fold of Honor brings it to the forefront. Its “future-use” scholarship checks start arriving today, as much as $5,000. For low-income households, the future is no longer a pipe dream, it’s a bank account.

Rooney and the PGA have made it so simple for us. Our part is simply to play golf on Labor Day weekend and add one extra dollar (or more if you like) to our greens fees at participating golf courses.

Last year, Rooney’s inaugural Patriot Golf Day raised $1.1 million, which has gone to help 200 families. That’s an admirable start, but it leaves lots of room to grow on.

Consider there are more than 34,000 service members who have been killed or wounded. Consider that, according to the National Golf Foundation, there are more than 17,000 golf facilities in the country and more than 26 million golfers. And yet, less than 3,400 golf facilities participated last year.

Already, some in the golf industry have heeded the call. TaylorMade-adidas Golf has vowed to help Folds of Honor double last year’s efforts by providing participating facilities with specially-designed, limited-edition drivers for display and auction. The drivers are inspired by the F-16 “Viper" Rooney pilots and feature a Patriot Golf Day logo on the toe, a laser-etched F-16 on the sole, a deep "intimidation" black crown and a specially-designed head cover in red, white and blue.

Best of all, the manufacturer isn’t taking a dime from the sales. All the proceeds go to the foundation. All the facilities need to do is go to www.playgolfamerica.com to register and participate. It takes all of about 90 seconds.

How can you not participate? As Neil Young might say, “How can you run when you know?”

Be one of the people who stayed on the plane, not one of those who got off.