Steelers Super Bowl Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has announced two grants from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at The Giving Back Fund. These are the tenth and eleventh grants awarded of the 2014-15 season thus far. The Foundation will be distributing grants to the Mercer County Sheriff's Office and the Miami University Police Department outside of Cincinnati where the Steelers will play the Bengals on Sunday, December 7.
The Mercer County Sheriff's Office will use the funds to purchase heat alarms for two K-9 vehicles while Miami University plans to apply the grant toward training equipment.
During the 2014-15 NFL season, The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation will be distributing grants to K-9 units of police and fire departments in the cities and surrounding communities of each regular season away game for the Steelers. The Foundation will also distribute several grants to the Pittsburgh area and will consider a grant to a non-NFL market city in the United States for each playoff game in which the Steelers compete. The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation invited police and fire departments across the country to submit proposals detailing their needs.
This marks the eighth season that the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation has distributed grants to K-9 units. The mission of the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation is to support K-9 units of police and fire departments throughout the United States with a particular emphasis on support for service dogs in Pittsburgh, Pa. Roethlisberger and the Foundation also strive to support Make-A-Wish.
The Foundation distributed $157,600 in grants to K-9 units around the country during the 2013 NFL season and has distributed in excess of $1.2 million since 2007.
K-9 Patrolman Keith Hibbard of the Miami University PD said, "The Miami University Police Department K-9 unit is honored to have been selected by the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation as a 2014 grant recipient. The continued success of our K-9 unit and other regional K-9 teams that train with our K-9 unit will be strongly supported by this generous gift. This training equipment will enable regional K-9 teams training at venues on our campus to maintain a high level of readiness and preparedness to respond when called upon." Ptl. Hibbard added, "Thank you Ben for giving back to your alma mater, Miami University, and supporting our mission of keeping our campus and surrounding communities safe."
In commenting on why the mission of the foundation is so important to him, Roethlisberger said, "We're very fortunate to be in the position that we are able to help these K-9 units. The work that is performed by the dogs and their handlers as well as the bond that is formed is incredible. We're just thrilled to do our small part."
Fans of The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation can support future K-9 grants by purchasing candy on Sarris Candies' website, (www.SarrisCandiesFundraising.com), using a special purchase code (77-7777). Sarris will donate 25 percent of the purchase price to the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation.
About The Giving Back Fund
The Giving Back Fund (GBF) is a national public charity that creates and professionally manages charitable foundations and other philanthropic programs for athletes, entertainers, business entrepreneurs, and corporations. For additional information, please visit www.givingback.org
