March 27, 2008 -- Press Release: This spring, fundraising for charities will take on a whole new spin. On June 28, thousands of Spinning® enthusiasts across the country will join actress Fran Drescher and other actors, athletes and enthusiasts to make the U.S. a “Spinning® Nation”. The largest fundraising event of its kind, registered fundraisers will participate in four consecutive one-hour classes conducted in licensed Spinning® facilities throughout the 50 states. Each rider will have raised at least $250 in pledges, and collected funds will be donated to Athletes for a Cure, The AIDS Research Alliance and The Cancer Schmancer Movement.
Response to “Spinning® Nation” has already been overwhelming. According to Scott Zagarino, Executive Director of event-developer Sportsgrants, Inc., over 150 clubs signed up to participate during the first 10 days of registration. “We designed the event to accommodate up to 500 clubs which we thought was a very ambitious goal,” said Zagarino. “However, we have experienced such enthusiastic support for ‘Spinning® Nation’ we may have to expand the parameters to include more clubs who want to take part.”
“Spinning® Nation” will be a day that marks several firsts in event fundraising. Mad Dogg Athletics Inc., owners of the Spinning® trademark, has for the first time endorsed a single nationwide charitable event, and health clubs from coast to coast have never before joined together to simultaneously conduct the same charitable program. In addition, this will be the first time three charitable organizations with diverse constituencies have ever partnered for a single event, one of the goals of the Sportsgrants, Inc. organization. “In 2007, various charity events held in the US raised 43 billion dollars, but at a cost of 57 billion dollars,” commented Zagarino. “We hope to change that fundraising paradigm through Sportsgrants, Inc. by fostering innovative ideas and cooperation among foundations, businesses and private citizens that result in effective fundraising with minimum overhead and maximum benefit to the people and organizations who need our help the most.”
According to John Baudhuin, CEO of Mad Dogg Athletics, there are currently 165,000 licensed Spinning® instructors and over 1 million people attending a Spinning® class every week. “We are proud to choose ‘Spinning® Nation’ as our first nationwide fundraising effort, “ Badhuin said. “It is fantastic to be able to channel the enthusiasm people have for Spinning® towards fighting some of the world’s most devastating diseases.”
Fran Drescher, who is president of Cancer Schmancer, is delighted to be part of this groundbreaking event as well. “I’m absolutely thrilled that Cancer Schmancer has been included as part of the Spinning® Nation fundraising event. I will do everything in my power to make the day a success and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping us realize our goal to ensure that all women’s cancers get diagnosed in Stage One when they’re most curable.”
Athletes for a Cure is a sports fundraising initiative of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Prostate Cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in America, effecting 1 in 6 men.
The AIDS Research Alliance is a national leader in fast-track independent AIDS research, seeking to develop a cure for AIDS and develop strategies to prevent new HIV infections. Thirty-three million people are currently diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.