We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2017 athleteReg Grant Program!
For 2017 athleteReg has expanded its sponsorship by offering a wide-reaching grant program focused on reducing the barrier to entry to sport. athleteReg has now increased its financial commitment to endurance sports programs to well over $100,000 annually.
We received over 130 grant proposals from both organizations and individuals alike. With so many qualified applicants it certainly wasn’t an easy choice! We would like to thank all who took the time to write in an apply, and share your story with us.
We are very excited to be working with the following organizations in the coming year. Please take a moment to check out the 2017 athleteReg grant recipients!
Seacoast Velo Kids
At Seacoast VeloKids our mission is simple: get more kids involved with cycling. Seacoast VeloKids is dedicated to the introduction and promotion of cycling to the youth of New Hampshire’s Seacoast communities. We want cycling to be accessible to any child who wants to participate. Our goal is to promote cycling as a lifelong activity that is part of a healthy lifestyle.
We have after school cycling programs at the elementary and middle school age levels, host a 300+ kid Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day, offer an all summer – free – “Summer Ride Program” for mountain biking and have a development junior mountain biking race program.
Chicago Women’s Elite Cycling
Chicago Women’s Elite Cycling (CWEC) is a non-profit organization formed in 2015 with the mission to elevate women’s cycling in the Chicago region and create a Chicago-based composite team racing at the professional level. We do this by educating new and experienced racers, inspiring them to become confident athletes, and championing a composite team of elite women competing nationally within the professional ranks.
Riding On Insulin
At Riding On Insulin we empower, activate & connect the Type 1 Diabetes / T1D community through shared experience & action sports.
Our core programs include ski/snowboard camps and mountain bike camps for kids and teens living with T1D in three countries around the globe! Those camps are funded by generous Partners, Donors and our Endurance Team.
Project Echelon Racing Team
Project Echelon is a veteran’s non-profit that seeks to help veterans and their families regroup, recover, and re-engage through physical activity and self discovery. Project Echelon supports veterans emotionally through positive messaging, mentorship and relationship building, and coaching veteran athletes. We also support veterans in fiscal hardship financially by raising funds through community events and donations in order to help pay event entry fees, membership fees, and provide equipment scholarships.
Project Echelon Elite Cycling team is the public face of the veterans organization, using their platform as elite athletes to disseminate the mission and vision of project echelon in order to grow the network of support and serve as agents of change. The team hosts a number of community events, visits local schools, and actively supports veteran causes to support, encourage, and motivate the veterans we work with.
The Front Rangers Cycling Club
For 26 years, the Front Rangers Cycling Club (FRCC) has collaborated with the Denver Police Department to identify at risk kids and help get them engaged in cycling as a healthy, fun activity. Additionally, the FRCC has a junior cycling team providing an opportunity for youth to meet weekly, train and compete in road racing, mountain bike and cyclocross.
Phoenix Bikes
Phoenix Bikes is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2007 with a mission of educating youth, promoting bicycling, and building community. Operated out of a non-profit, community bike shop in Arlington, Virginia, Phoenix Bikes educates youth ages 12 to 17 through a free, year-round “Earn-a-Bike” program during which youth learn the basics of bike repair, work on a bike to donate to a neighbor in need, and finally refurbish a bike to keep. Weekly, youth also go on group bike rides to learn how to use their “new” bike safely for recreation, transportation, and wellness. For youth looking for an additional challenge, Phoenix Bikes’ junior racing program, established as a USA Cycling Club in August 2015, empowers youth to build their teamwork, fitness, and athleticism through cycling as a sport.
iDream Athletes Foundation
iDream Athletes Foundation assists in fueling the growth for local running, cycling and multi-sport champions, teams, clubs and communities in Western North Carolina by providing resource and financial support when conducting our key activities.
Entering the sport of cycling, running and multi-sport can be costly. Removing the cost barrier for youth and adults who are interested in training for or participating in a running, cycling or multi-sport event is key to growing our WNC sports community. iDream Athletes Foundation provides an approachable and comfortable setting for a kid or adult to gain exposure, experience and training in either running, cycling or swimming. This allows us to support and spur-on healthy, active lifestyles in our community members.
iDream Athletes Foundation provides opportunities for Western North Carolina youth and adults who are unable to pay for sporting event fees, coaching, travel expenses and/or equipment to train for and/or participate in sporting events. This tax-exempt non-profit provides needs-based scholarships. The amounts to be gifted are determined on a case-by-case basis through a criteria-selection process.
Queens of Dirt
We aim to support and encourage the growth of female off-road cycling and racing in our community and in the Pacific Northwest, focusing on mountain biking and cyclocross. We seek to recruit adult and junior female riders, and cultivate camaraderie and a love of riding and racing by providing direct support, guidance and assistance in overcoming barriers to the sport. More specifically, we help organize and facilitate women’s skills clinics, rides, community events, and mentorship. Through trail building and maintenance, we also aim to develop a practice of stewardship toward our local trails, which will help ensure access to trails for the next generation of cyclists.
Pennsylvania Center for Adapted Sports
The Center is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of people with disabilities by promoting healthy and active lifestyles.
We recognize that sports and recreation are essential ingredients to the physical and mental well-being of any individual. Providing specialized equipment and making adaptations where necessary, the Center serves 500 individuals with disabilities annually, including Veterans and Active Duty Military personnel. Ranging in age from four to seventy-four, 95% of the population we service has permanent physical disabilities; the remaining 5% are cognitively impaired.
JAM Fund Cycling
JAM Fund is a comprehensive year-round program with a mission to lower the financial barriers within the sport of cycling and to develop athletes who are cycling’s true ambassadors. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, our activities are made possible through corporate sponsorships and individual donor support. Each year we issue grants including financial and technical resources and professional training to aspiring cyclists who show enthusiasm and determination to do their best.
You’ll be hearing more about these organizations in the coming months as they put their grants into action, and continue the important work they are doing.
We can’t wait to see the outcome!