What’s New with the 2018 Community Grant Winners

Every year, our company seeks to give back to the endurance community through our Community Grant Program. This program allows anybody to nominate an endurance-related, nonprofit organization to receive a grant benefitting their cause. Since the beginning of this program, RunSignup has donated over $30,000 dollars to 15 organizations. Grant recipients are narrowed down to a list of finalists and then determined by our Customer Advisory Board (CAB). The CAB is a group of customers loyal to the RunSignup brand.

There is still time to send in your nominations for our 2019 recipients! We will be accepting applications until June 17th. Think you have somebody who is deserving of the grant? You can make your nomination for our 2019 Community Grant Recipients here. In the meantime, we thought we would share with you some of our 2018 recipients and how the grant has helped their organization.

The following answers were provided to us by the following 2018 grant recipients: Band of Runners, Reason to Run, and Running for Those Who Can’t.

How does your organization give back to the endurance community?

Band of Runners: Band of Runners empowers veterans and their surviving family members by opening them up to the community of trail running and the physical/psychological benefits that running in nature provides. Volunteers are distance and trail runners, race directors, and coaches from across the US who provide services to veterans and their families. Band of Runners puts on an annual, 3-day trail running camp for 30 veterans and surviving family members. The camp teaches them about trail running and racing skills while welcoming them into the trail running community.

Reason to Run: Reason to Run is a nonprofit organization that exists to create a culture of hope, connection, and community. This is accomplished through a multifaceted training program designed to encourage and support both new and experienced runners. This program has been implemented at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility (CCCF) in Wilsonville, Oregon. As past Reason to Run participants are released from prison and transition back into their homes, running can provide a positive physical and mental outlet as well as a connection to an encouraging and supportive running community.

Running for Those Who Can’t: Running For Those Who Can’t is an all-volunteer organization that helps people with disabilities get involved in running and triathlons. As an all-volunteer organization, it takes a lot of community effort to put some of the programs we offer together. We try to ensure there are no barriers for people who want to participate, whether it be by providing event entries, training, or equipment. We always look forward to meeting new volunteers and gaining more traction in the community.

How has the grant been able to help your organization?

Band of Runners: The grant from RunSignup sponsored the attendance of seven veterans last year. Their attendance at camp had an important impact on their lives

Reason to Run: The RunSignup grant allowed Reason to Run to update our web page and provide a connection point for recently released program participants.  The grant has also allowed us to continue to develop our Bunk to 5K curriculum so that we can share it with other correctional facilities.

Running for Those Who Can’t: Running For Those Who Can’t used the community grant to support our 2018 Youth Paratriathlon Camp. It also allowed us to prepare our 2019 Disabled Veterans Trail Running & Rucking Camp coming up this fall.

Any big plans for the future? Has the grant allowed your organization to do anything new?

Band of Runners: We are working to increase the impact of camp once completed. Camp mentors and participants are linking up at races to support one another. We want to make that much easier to do in the future, and we’re very excited to take on the project.

Reason to Run: We are working towards packaging our Bunk to 5K curriculum so it can be used across the country.  This will allow other women in correctional facilities to experience a culture of hope, connection, and community.  The RunSignup Community Grant has provided Reason to Run the resources to hire experts to help with this endeavor.

Running for Those Who Can’t: Our newly added program, Camp R&R, is a weekend event for disabled veterans to participate in trail running, rucking, and yoga. Camp R&R will take place at Allegany State Park, New York, from November 22nd to November 24th, 2019. Another program in the early planning stages is an adaptive cycling program. Through this program, we will partner up with local schools to allow students to try out different equipment.