[PRESS RELEASE] KBF Announces $275,000 in Awards and Partnerships

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Elizabeth Langfeldt, 802-846-5298 or [email protected]

KELLY BRUSH FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES $275K IN AWARDS

FOUNDATION SUPPORTS ADAPTIVE SPORTS, SKI RACING SAFETY AND PARTNERSHIPS

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (October 26, 2016)—The Kelly Brush Foundation awarded $275,000 for adaptive sports gear and ski racing safety equipment grants and strategic partnerships, Executive Director Zeke Davisson announced. This year’s annual grants marked a milestone for the foundation both in the number of awards and the amount awarded.

“We received more applications than ever before from adaptive athletes seeking to improve the quality of their lives and from organizations focused on making ski racing safer,” Davisson said. “As the Kelly Brush Foundation grows we are able to do more, and we are also seeing demand grow. This encourages and motivates us to do even more to meet our mission.”

The foundation awarded 95 Adaptive Sports Equipment Program grants totaling $175,572 for equipment including handcycles for on-road and off-road, sport chairs for basketball, tennis and rugby, and monoskis and race chairs for skiing.

“I can’t put into words how much this is going to help in my path to reigniting my active and competitive lifestyle. I can’t wait to get started,” said Patrick Flautt, of Norcross, Georgia, who received a grant for a handcycle.

A total of 15 ski racing clubs were awarded a total of $54,500 in Ski Racing Safety Grants to purchase safety netting to line training and racing courses. Recipients included the racing program at Mt. Abram in Maine.

“We are grateful to the Kelly Brush Foundation. This grant will help to enable us to net a full trail this winter so we can provide a safe race/training venue,” said Gregg Novick, director, Friends of Mt. Abram.

In addition to the grants for adaptive equipment and ski netting, the foundation allocated $45,000 for Adaptive Sports Partnerships. These funds will support a new initiative called Path 2 Active that creates partnerships with adaptive sports programs and outpatient rehabilitation hospitals to make the path to returning to an active lifestyle as easy and personalized as possible.

The foundation’s fundraising is supported by the foundation’s signature event, the Kelly Brush Ride powered by VBT Bicycling and Walking Vacations. In September the 11^th annual ride drew more than 700 cyclists and 30 handcyclists and raised more than $425,000. With the ride as its signature fundraising event, the Kelly Brush Foundation has raised more than $3 million, helped purchase nearly 400 pieces of adaptive sports equipment and helped keep thousands of ski racers safe with hundreds of miles of safety netting, trail widening projects and awareness about ski racing safety.

Next year’s ride is set for September 9, 2017 in Middlebury, Vermont.

About the Kelly Brush Foundation: The Kelly Brush Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated empowering those with paralysis through ownership of adaptive sports equipment and improving safety in the sport of ski racing. The foundation has raised more than $3 million, helping to purchase nearly 400 pieces of adaptive sports equipment and keep thousands of ski racers safe with hundreds of miles of safety netting, trail widening projects and awareness about ski racing safety. Kelly Brush, together with her family, started the foundation in 2006 after she sustained a severe spinal cord injury while racing in NCAA Div. 1 competition as a member of the Middlebury College Ski Team in Vermont. The Kelly Brush Foundation affirms Kelly’s ongoing commitment to live life on her own terms and better the lives of others living with paralysis. www.kellybrushfoundation.org

IMAGE CAPTION: Dylan Wells of Axtell, Nebraska, thanks the Kelly Brush Foundation for the Adaptive Sports Equipment Program grant he received that enabled him to purchase a tennis chair in 2016.

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