The Foundation Gives Back to CDA

The IRONMAN Foundation Community Fund provides community and volunteer grant opportunities to non-profit organizations where U.S. IRONMAN® events are held. With the 2015 donations from The IRONMAN Foundation, a total of $635,000 has been given since the first IRONMAN Coeur d’Alene event in 2003. In 2015, The IRONMAN Foundation will provide more than $1.5 million to support the needs of IRONMAN race communities across North America.

The IRONMAN Foundation’s Community Fund will provide a total of $25,000 in community grants which are given to local non-profit beneficiaries that will use the funds toward initiatives to better the Coeur d’Alene area. “Grant funding is one way that The IRONMAN Foundation leaves a lasting legacy in the communities where IRONMAN races take place,” said Dave Deschenes, Executive Director of The IRONMAN Foundation. “We are thrilled to support the Coeur d’Alene community with these community grant awards.”

One recipient of these funds is the City of Coeur d’Alene Recreation Department, which will support programs and provide activities that help fight obesity and maintain healthy lifestyles at no cost to program participants. Another recipient is The Salvation Army Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Center for its Third Grade Swim program, which helps hundreds of local students learn critical water safety skills and swim basics. “The 2015 IRONMAN Foundation grant allows us to discount fees to only $5 per student, reduced from the actual cost average of $22 per student. This allows the participation of children who had previously been unable to afford the program,” said Christy Markham, Development Director from The Salvation Army Kroc Center. “This effort makes Third Grade Swim accessible to those who most need it, allowing 1,096 students to participate in the 2015 program, up from 990 students in 2014.”

VOLUNTEER GRANTS

The IRONMAN Foundation’s Community Fund will also provide an additional $35,000 in grant donations to local non-profit groups that have a volunteerism component to their organizations. Last year, volunteer grant funding was distributed among 38 community groups and organizations in and around the Coeur d’Alene region through the volunteer grant program.