Dear US nordic skiing community,
The National Nordic Foundation (NNF) would like to extend a sincere thank you for the astounding display of generosity and belief in supporting a world-class skiing development system during last week’s Drive for 25. We are humbled, and incredibly grateful, to be part of a grassroots movement propelling our sport forward in this country. This year’s Drive for 25 further demonstrated that our American ski community is a rare one where all of its members are working for good of this sport that we all love, and not for ourselves.
Between mail, online, and general donations, the US nordic community raised $110,609 from 1211 during last week’s Drive for 25. Crossing the threshold of raising $100,000, and the threshold of 1,000 donations, unlocked a pair of matching grants worth $100,000 apiece, or $200,000 total. With those goals achieved, the total raised from our Drive for 25 totaled $310,609, making it the largest Drive for 25 in our organization’s 20+ year history.
To have our biggest fundraiser ever in a non-Olympic year is impressive. To do it in a single week is a dizzying accomplishment. That is what the US nordic community stepped up to do last week; demonstrating an ongoing commitment to building a nordic skiing program that can compete with any in the world. With this funding, the National Nordic Foundation has a strong base from which to bolster its financial health, support our pillar projects this season, and fund innovative and forward-thinking approaches to sport development for some of the most promising skiers in the world. We want to thank everyone who donated, our ambassadors who fundraised, and the entire ski community from coast-to-coast for making this year’s Drive for 25 a special moment in our sport that will have a lasting legacy stretching out from here into the future.
Sincerely,
The National Nordic Foundation
Yuriy Gusev (Board Chairman), Matt Whitcomb, Joey Caterinichio, Sophie Caldwell Hamilton, Laura McCabe, Kikkan Randall, Erika Flowers, Reese Brown, Ben Theyerl
