Pittsburgh, PA – Today, Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl Quarterback and Findlay, OH native, Ben Roethlisberger, announced the fourth grant of the 2012-13 season from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at The Giving Back Fund. The Foundation will be distributing a grant to the Kenton County Sheriff’s Office just outside of Cincinnati, OH where the Steelers will play the Bengals on Sunday, October 21.
The Kenton County Sheriff’s Office will utilize the grant to replace their existing K-9 with a dual purpose trained K-9. K-9 NIKO, who has been on the force since 2006, has suffered from hip dysplasia and is slated for retirement in the near future. NIKO will be taken care of in retirement by his current K-9 handler. NIKO has been a tremendous asset to the Kenton County Sheriff’s Office since his first 30 minutes on duty when, on a routine traffic stop, he alerted his handler to drugs and weapons in the vehicle.
During the 2012-13 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 grants to any two non-NFL market cities in the United States if the Steelers make the playoffs. The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation invited police and fire departments across the country to submit proposals detailing their needs.
This marks the sixth 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 and to support other charitable organizations, such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Kenton County Sheriff Charles Korzenborn said, “I would like to thank the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation for their generous grant for a new sheriff K-9 deputy. As part of the Kenton County Anti-Crime unit, our new K-9 will be an enormous asset to the agencies in Kenton County as well as four other counties. Our new K-9 will be able to assist the agencies in the search of narcotics as well as the search and apprehension of fugitives. Our new K-9 will also be a full member of the Kenton County SWAT team as is his handler, which will make him the only K-9 in the state who is a dedicated SWAT member. We look forward our new addition to not only the Sheriff’s office but to our Anti-Crime Unit as well.”
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.”
For more information about the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation or The Giving Back Fund, please contact Stephanie Sandler or visit www.bigben7.com or www.givingback.org.
About Ben Roethlisberger
Ben Roethlisberger is in his ninth season as quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and already has secured his place in the record books. At 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, he is aptly referred to as Big Ben, and has become known for big performances and a humble approach. Roethlisberger guided the team to two Super Bowl victories (XL, XLII) in the past six years. In 2009, he led the Steelers to a 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Tampa with a thrilling touchdown pass in the final minute. In 2006, Roethlisberger became the youngest starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl, defeating the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 in Detroit. Roethlisberger was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2007 and 2012, and already owns the Steelers’ top five single-season records for QB rating. He is the only quarterback to lead his team to the conference championship game in each of his first two seasons. He was the unanimous Rookie of the Year in 2004, breaking Dan Marino’s rookie records for completion percentage and passer rating, and was the first quarterback in NFL history to compile a 13-0 regular season record as a rookie.
Roethlisberger was raised in Findlay, OH and was a three-sport star at Findlay High School. He went on to set nearly every quarterback record at Miami University (Ohio) prior to foregoing his senior season and becoming the 11th overall pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2004 NFL Draft. Roethlisberger resides near Pittsburgh with his wife Ashley and his two dogs, Zeus and Hercules.
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. Since our founding in 1997, GBF has created an important niche in expanding and diversifying philanthropy, particularly among young people, women and people of color. Our unique structure allows donors to direct more of their charitable dollars to causes they care about and less to administrative overhead. To date, The Giving Back Fund has provided philanthropic consulting, management and programming to more than 200 athletes, entertainers, entrepreneurs, and other high net worth individuals. GBF has overseen the distribution of more than $30,000,000 in charitable grants within the United States and other countries, and has developed dozens of unique scholarship, mentoring, medical, arts, and other philanthropic programs. For additional information, please visit www.givingback.org.
Contacts:
Stephanie Sandler
The Giving Back Fund
310.649.5222
ssandler@givingback.org
www.givingback.org
Ryan Tollner
REP 1 Sports Group
ryan@rep1sports.com
www.rep1sports.com