Pittsburgh, Pa. – Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl Quarterback and Findlay, OH native, Ben Roethlisberger, announced the seventh and eighth grants of the 2015-16 season from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at The Giving Back Fund. The Foundation will be distributing grants to the Ludlow (KY) and Middletown (OH) Police Departments, just east and north, respectively, of Cincinnati where the Steelers will play the Bengals on Sunday, December 13.
Both police departments have recently expanded their K-9 units to include narcotics detection dogs. The Ludlow Police Department plans to apply the grant awarded toward the purchase of two vehicle kennel inserts while the Middletown Police Department will upgrade the storage trailer and purchase items for training with grant funds.
During the 2015-16 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 ninth 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 support Make-A-Wish.
The Foundation distributed more than $130,000 in grants to K-9 units around the country during the 2014-15 NFL season and has distributed in excess of $1.3 million since 2007.
Middletown Chief of Police Rodney Muterspaw said, “A huge thank you to the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation for their kind support in our endeavors. We have a long history of an excellent K-9 program here in Middletown. Our newest K-9 team (Warrick & Odin) will start in January and will be different than any other team we have had at MPD. Unlike past K-9s that have been assigned to patrol duties, this K-9 will be a drug detector dog assigned exclusively to the Special Operations unit. This assignment further strengthens the city’s commitment to battle the heroin epidemic.”
Ludlow Chief of Police Scott Smith said, “We, along with our partners at the Fraternal Order of Police Associate Lodge, are very excited to have been selected as one of the grant recipients of The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation. The police K-9s that this helps us fund will help make an impact in the heroin epidemic facing the region. We can’t wait to work with them to continuing building stronger relationships with our 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.
About Ben Roethlisberger
Ben Roethlisberger just completed his 11th season as quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers and was selected for the 2015 Pro Bowl game—the third selection of his career. 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 is one of only 10 starting quarterbacks to win two or more Super Bowls. 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 seconds. 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, 2012 and 2014, and already holds most of the passing records for the Steelers. 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 forgoing 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, son Benjamin, daughter Baylee and dog 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.