Community sports groups in Kent and surrounding cities have received more than $441,000 in grants since the Seattle Thunderbirds junior hockey team moved seven years ago to the ShoWare Center in Kent from Seattle.
The Thunderbird Community Sports Foundation, supported by fans who buy 50/50 and jersey raffle tickets at home games, has awarded $441,668 since 2009, according to numbers compiled by the foundation, a nonprofit group overseen by a board of local residents and T-Birds officials. A fan who buys a 50/50 raffle ticket wins half of the pot that game night and the rest goes to the foundation.
The goals of the foundation are to encourage opportunity and advancement in sports development; foster growth of youth sports participation in the community; and promote community involvement among youth.
A total of $103,053 has been awarded to youth hockey groups in Kent, Tacoma, SnoKing and Seattle; $69,992 to school districts for sports equipment and programs in Kent, Tahoma, Auburn, Orting, West Seattle and Bonney Lake; $51,200 to school districts to help students pay athletic participation fees in Kent, Auburn, Federal Way and Tahoma.
Other donations include $38,045 to service clubs and other foundations; $33,173 to adaptive sports programs (athletes with disabilities) in Kent, Auburn and Seattle; $30,450 to parks and recreation programs in the cities of Kent, Covington, Auburn, Renton and Burien; $25,557 to gymnastics, golf, riding, cheer, aquatics, skating, rowing and soccer programs in Kent, Enumclaw and Tacoma; $20,556 to baseball programs in Kent, Auburn, Seattle, Maple Valley, SeaTac, Des Moines, Federal Way and Issaquah.
Other funds have gone to track and running clubs in Kent, Tahoma, Renton and Auburn; academic scholarships for students pursuing studies in a sports related field; football programs in Kent and Seattle; basketball programs in Seattle and Shoreline; boxing in Kent; and the American Cancer Society (through the Thunderbird Kent Relay for Life fundraiser.
For more information, go to thunderbirdsfoundation.com.
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