Press Release

Athlete Recovery Fund

Athlete Recovery Fund (ARF www.athleterecoveryfund.com ) began in the wake of the 2007 season. We had some big injuries and it struck me that there was nothing in place to provide for athletes in BMX, Freestyle Motocross or Skateboarding who suffer these injuries. Some event organizers do more than others, but for the most part once the athlete leaves the contest there is no support. Athletes like Stephen Murray, Jake Brown, Mike Vincent, Jimmy Levan and Jason Fischer just to name a few.


Goal number one was to visit with AST, ESPN and ASA to find out the true reason why nothing was set up to assist these athletes. They all said generally the same thing; there needs to be a third party to organize and manage the funds so that we can contribute to that third party.


I began discussing with as many nonprofit organizations as I could to understand the process and the charitable work that they provided. Very quickly I could see the level of attention that would be needed to pull this off and I started off with an attorney firm in San Francisco that was recommended to me because all that they do is work for nonprofit corporations.


AST being the closest to Stephen Murray’s injury was the first to step up and provide a charitable contribution so that we could make ARF official and provide Stephen with ARF’s first grant. Because AST made the first step ARF is now recognized with the IRS as a 501(C)(3) Nonprofit Charity.


ARF has some very lofty goals which we hope to accomplish in a short amount of time. However we do not want to lose sight of the initial goals and get caught up on plans that will simply take more time to accomplish. This is why we have built short term to long term goal plans. We will strive to be proficient in each objective before moving on to the next thing.


At this past weekend’s AST Dew Tour “Panasonic Open” the athletes got their first intro to what ARF is all about and many athletes took the steps to donate 5% of their prize purse money! ARF will be funded by event organizers, companies who market in Action Sports, Athlete’s, and public support. Currently ARF needs contributions to accomplish its goals. Basically no one is exempt from donating to the Athlete Recovery Fund. We look forward to your support!


Please visit our website for more information and the chance to donate today. www.athleterecoveryfund.com

Companies looking to get involved should email info@athleterecoveryfund.com and a proposal will be sent to you.


Sincerely,


Aaron Cooke

Executive Director

0 comments

The Latest