KELLY BRUSH FOUNDATION AWARDS SKI RACING SAFETY GRANTS
STOWE AND ASPEN SKI CLUBS AMONG RECIPIENTS
BURLINGTON, Vermont (Nov. 24, 2008) Just as ski resorts are opening for the season, the Kelly Brush Foundation kicked off its 2008/2009 Ski Racing Safety is No Accident Campaign with the announcement of over $20,000 in grants to ski racing clubs and programs across the country. The grants are part of a campaign to promote and improve ski racing safety.
Among the recipients are some of the most prestigious racing programs in the nation including the Mount Mansfield Ski Club at Stowe Mountain Resort in Vermont and the Aspen Valley Ski Club at Aspen in Colorado. Each club won a $10,000 grant earmarked for enhancing safety on the trails where their young racers train and race.
"The Kelly Brush Foundation is working to raise the bar when it comes to safety in ski training and racing. We really want safety to be foremost in everybody's mind anytime a ski racer is racing or training on the hill," said Charlie Brush, a founder of the Kelly
Brush Foundation. "The goal of the Ski Racing Safety is No Accident Campaign is to facilitate safety enhancements and promote awareness in the ski racing community including officials, coaches, athletes and parents."
Brush founded the nonprofit along with his family and friends after his daughter Kelly Brush was paralyzed in a ski racing accident in 2006. Ever since, the foundation has been working to improve ski racing safety as well as providing adaptive sports equipment to those living with spinal cord injury and supporting the U.S. Disabled Ski Team.
Igor Vanovac, Director of Mount Mansfield Ski Club, said the grant will be used to purchase state-of-the-art safety fencing to line a new race course at Stowe Mountain Resort.
"As one of the most important training sites in Vermont and a leader in the nation, Mount Mansfield Ski Club sets the standard for ski racing and training. This Kelly Brush Foundation grant allows us to bring the very latest in safety technology to our race venue and athletes, which is an absolute priority for our club," Vanovac said.
So far this season grants from the Ski Racing Safety is No Accident Campaign include:
* $10,000 grant to Aspen Valley Ski Club in Aspen, Colo. for safety fencing
* $10,000 grant to Mount Mansfield Ski Club in Stowe, Vt. for safety fencing
* $2,500 grant to Green Mountain Valley School in Waitsfield, Vt. for safety equipment
* $1,000 grant to the Middlebury College Ski Team in Middlebury, Vt. for safety equipment
* Ski Racing Safety is No Accident posters to 450 ski clubs and race programs across the United States to raise ski racing safety awareness.
About the foundation: The Kelly Brush Foundation is a nonprofit 501c(3) organization dedicated to improving ski racing safety, enhancing the quality of life for those with
spinal cord injury(SCI) through providing adaptive sports equipment, advancing scientific research on SCI and supporting the U.S. Disabled Ski Team. Kelly Brush, together with her family and friends, started the foundation in 2006 after she sustained a spinal cord injury while racing in NCAA Div. 1 competition as a member of the Middlebury College Ski Team in Vermont. That injury left Kelly paralyzed from the chest down. The Kelly Brush Foundation affirms Kelly's ongoing commitment to live life to the fullest on her own terms and better the lives of others living with SCI. www.kellybrushfoundation.org
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