Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger
Announces Two K-9 Grants in the Nashville Area
Pittsburgh, Pa. – Today, Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl Quarterback and Findlay, OH native, Ben Roethlisberger, announced two grants from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at The Giving Back Fund. These are the eighth and ninth grants awarded of the 2014-15 season thus far. The Foundation will be distributing grants to the Oneida Police Department and the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department outside of Nashville where the Steelers will play the Titans on Monday, November 17.
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office will purchase a dual purpose dog and two safety vests for its K-9s while the Oneida Police Department plans to fill the void left in their unit with the passing of their only dog this past May.
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.
Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris said, “As Sheriff of Putnam County, Tennessee, I am proud and honored to lead the agency that has been chosen as a recipient of a Ben Roethlisberger Foundation K-9 grant. The citizens of Putnam County rely on our agency to provide a safe community. To achieve this, it is vital for us to have quality trained personnel and resources. The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation grant will enable our agency to retire one of our older K-9s and purchase a new narcotics/patrol dog as well as pay for the necessary training and certification for our handlers and equip our patrol dogs with safety vests.”
K-9 Officer Steven Ward of the Oneida Police Department said, “In May of this year, the Oneida Police Department’s narcotic dog, Jinks, suddenly passed away while on duty. Our department is small and we have a very limited budget. Due to the high cost, we were concerned that we may be unable to purchase a new narcotics detection dog. But thanks to the kindness and generosity of The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation, our K-9 program will continue to play an important role in our schools and community.”
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.
For more information about the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation or The Giving Back Fund, please contact Jessica Duffaut or visit www.bigben7.com or www.givingback.org.