You know Olympic weightlifting is an awesome sport. You want to see it become better known, better appreciated, more widely practiced.
And you probably know that when Olympic sports lose funding, weightlifting is often one of the first on the chopping block. That happened in England earlier this year: the government cut all funding to the sport and athletes had to start crowdfunding campaigns.
Lucky for you, you’ve come across this sentence at the best possible time: if you donate to USA Weightlifting by the end of Tuesday November 27, your donation will be matched by the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Editor’s Note: BarBend is the Official Media Partner of USA Weightlifting. The information in this post was sourced in collaboration with USA Weightlifting.
Well, there’s a caveat: the USOC will match the donation, but only if they receive $8,000 from donors. The heat is on. The task is set. Here’s why it’s worth donating.
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“This is the final year of the USOC’s matching grant program,” USA Weightlifting CEO Phil Andrews told BarBend. “It means if we raise $52,000 they will give us another $20,000 in matching funds. We’re around $8,000 short of that number which means that Tuesday is one of our best opportunities to raise that last $8,000 to reach that grant.”
Even better news: you get to decide where your money goes. Want more money to go to the hard task of finding young weightlifters for the next generation of Olympians? You can earmark your money for the Youth Development Programs. Want to focus on the athletes most likely to compete in Tokyo? Send it to Junior or Senior Programs, or you can use the label “General Athlete Support” for your money to go directly to Team USA athletes’ stipends.
There are even two foundations you can select: USA Weightlifting Foundation or Kilos for a Cure.
“Kilos for a Cure is a specific partnership with the American Cancer Society through one of our coaches, Ellyn Robinson, who lost her mom to cancer. There’s no reason why someone couldn’t donate to that for November,” says Andrews. “The USA Weightlifting Foundation is our fund that is an investment fund, so that grows all of the time and funds things like our scholarship.”
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If you’re like us, you believe weightlifting is one of the greatest sports on Earth, that our athletes should be able to become as strong and proficient as possible, that the United States should stay competitive, and that the sport itself should get the recognition it deserves.
We’ve got until Tuesday to help the athletes and you have the power to help them any way you deem fit. You’re in the driver’s seat here: you’ve just got to visit this link so that your dollar can go as far as it possibly can before the deadline.
Editor’s Note: BarBend is the Official Media Partner of USA Weightlifting. The two organizations maintain editorial independence unless otherwise specified on partner content.
Featured image via @cj__cummings on Instagram.
