Arnold Golfer Swinging Big for Community

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Zayna September is a 6-sport varsity athlete for Arnold. For her, right now, the focus is golf. A sport that she was more or less raised in.

“I would go with my sister and watch her play with my dad, kind of got bored of sitting in the golf cart so I started playing, I picked up a club and it’s just gone on from there,” said Arnold golfer and co-founder of Lucky Pennies, Zayna September.

And Zayna has gone from practice round passenger to 3-time regional qualifier a satisfying feat, but it hasn’t come easy.

“I feel pretty good about going to regionals, it’s a reflection of my game. I had a setback last year because I had surgery on my hand so I didn’t actually expect to go this far, so I’m very proud of myself for that.” September said.

Something else for Zayna to be proud of is the philanthropic work she’s been doing with her siblings. The September kids started a non-profit called Lucky Pennies to help people through disaster relief but this year, Zayna wanted to make it a little more personal.

“I wanted to take it back to my community this year, so I raised money for school lunches, for kids that have a balance or can’t pay right now,” said September.

Through regular and reduced lunch and fundraising, Zayna was able to provide lunches to kids at every beachside school. And not just tens of lunches... try hundreds of them.

“In the beginning, I was thinking of raising money for 100 meals for every school on the beach, but then I thought I would raise more money and it ended up being like 700 meals throughout the schools on the beach.”

But Zayna and her siblings aren’t just stopping there. While they’ll continue providing lunches to the local schools, hoping to eventually move to schools across the Hathaway, they’re also planning to stretch their reach a little further than the bridge.

“We have decided to build wells in Africa for children who are taking time to walk 15 miles for their mothers to get water. That is so the kids have time to stay and get an education to learn and grow and have an experience and a future.”

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