Bridgestone Americas Inc. is donating $10,000 each to six organizations on behalf of “Team Bridgestone” – the six U.S. athletes and para-athletes Bridgestone partnered with for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The donations are part of the tiremaker’s “Behind the Performance” program, which celebrates Team Bridgestone athlete’s passion for performance and honors those who supported their Olympic journey, Bridgestone said.
Six Team Bridgestone athletes personally selected the following organizations:
– Six-time Olympic medalist Aly Raisman (gymnastics), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston)
– Four-time Olympian Meb Keflezighi (track and field, marathon), The MEB Foundation (San Diego)
– Two-time Olympian Kelley O’Hara (soccer), Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (Atlanta)
– Four-time Olympic medalist Cullen Jones (swimmer), the USA Swimming Foundation (Colorado Springs)
– Five-time Olympian Khatuna Lorig (archery), the Easton Sports Development Foundation (Van Nuys, Calif.):
– 2016 Paralympic gold medalist Will Groulx (para-cycling), Adaptive Sports Northwest (Portland)
“Bridgestone knows that Olympians and Paralympians are built to perform at the highest level, and they wouldn’t be able to get there without a strong team of supporters, including family, friends, teammates and coaches,” said Paul Oakley, vice president of communications at Bridgestone Americas. “We have been very proud to support Aly, Meb, Kelley, Cullen, Khatuna and Will as they chased their dreams this year, and now we are proud to help them give back to the communities, organizations and people that have inspired and supported their performance.”
Each Team Bridgestone athlete will visit their chosen organization to formally present Bridgestone’s donation throughout October and November.