Athlete Recovery Fund Gives Thanks
For the first time ever athlete’s got together in a preemptive way and donated money for themselves and athletes in BMX, FMX and Skateboarding who suffered severe injuries and needed financial assistance. The lists of names below are athletes who chose do donate 5% of their prize purse winnings at one, some or all of the AST Dew Tour stops. Their donation became a tax deductible write off through the Athlete Recovery Fund ( ARF www.athleterecoveryfund.com). The ARF is a nonprofit organization that pools money so that when an injury occurs the funds are there and everyone isn’t left to only raise money after the fact. ARF was established February 2008.
ARF also received charitable contributions from some pretty big companies that also deserve thanks:
AST, Ryan Sheckler X Games Celebrity Skins Classic, Playstation, Nike 6.0, Hasbro, and website construction done by Fuse.
ARF set up booths at the AST Dew Tour “Right Guard Open” in Cleveland and also at X Games this summer. Thanks goes out to Dan’s Competition and Active Ride Shop for providing thousands of dollars worth of coupons to trade for donations, all the athletes who stopped by to sign autographs and of course the public for donating to such a good cause.
With the current economy as it is collecting donations is a tough business, but in its first year ARF did an amazing job raising over a quarter of a million dollars! With the donations that we did receive ARF was able to contribute grants to four of the sport’s top riders in a time of serious need. It gives me a ton of pride and honor to have been able to help those athletes and I continue my efforts so that I may be able to help others in the future.
One of the most popular questions that I get is how does ARF get donations? As you can see everyone can participate from athletes to the public and companies who support action sports. The bottom line is that everyone can get involved and the amount you donate is the least important thing. The most important thing is that you just get involved on any level. As we get close to Thanksgiving, the holidays and the end of the year find a way to make a tax deductible contribution of any amount. For the companies who are out there and wishing they could do more, don’t let that prevent you from doing anything. Just get involved.
Thank you and happy holidays!
dadlovesbmx
11/27/2008 4:27 PM
i am glad to see so many bmxer's names on that list. Just shows that even though there is a ton of hate on the internet.. when it comes down to it, we are there for each other.
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