Abigail’s Plan, a baseball league for people with disabilities, is one step closer to reaching its fundraising goal for the construction of a rubberized field. Bridgestone Americas Inc. has crowned the non-profit organization the grand prize winner of its second Fuel the Cause neighborhood transformation contest and given Abigail's Plan $25,000.
“This year’s Fuel the Cause program was another great success with 12 noteworthy groups making it to the final round,” says Erik Seidel, vice president of brand marketing for Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC. “We are excited to see Abigail’s Plan bring a rubberized field to Tennessee to help bring its team members a far better experience during game play. Congratulations to Abigail’s Plan supporters and players and many thanks to all who voted and participated in the contest.”
The prize will help Abigail’s Plan build Tennessee’s first Miracle League rubberized field. Playing on a regular field with a grass and dirt surface is often difficult for players with walking issues. The dirt and debris from the field surface also gets into the brake systems of the wheelchairs and walkers and causes damage to this expensive equipment.
Fuel the Cause is designed to foster game-changing innovation in local communities and identify educational, environmental, safety and other community-based initiatives that would benefit from a transformation funded by Bridgestone. In the 2015 contest, more than 182,000 public votes were cast through the Bridgestone Fuel the Cause online portal.
This was the second year for the Bridgestone Fuel the Cause contest. To enter the contest, consumers were asked to submit photos and a 500-word essay describing their project and explaining how contest prize money would be used to transform their initiative. The entry with the highest number of online consumer votes was selected as the grand-prize winner.
The following organizations also received prize money from the program:
First Place: $15,000 for Rescue Team Needs Building, Escanaba, Mich.
Second Place: $10,000 for Thayer Acres Agriculture Center, Thayer, Kan.
First Runner Up: $5,000 each for The Gift Of Music: Shared for a Lifetime, Garrets, S.D.; Olympia Pacesetters 4-H Club's Helping Hands Community Center and Stanford Sprouts Community Garden, Stanford, Ill.; and Pantry to Empower, Lyman, S.C.
Second Runner Up: $3,000 each for Schuyler County Council on Aging, Lancaster, Mo.; Cub Manufacturing, Madison, Ind.; and Livingston Outdoor Adventures Inc., Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
Third Runner Up: $2,500 each Eastland Backpack Program, Eastland, Texas; Custom Canine Service Dog Academy, Madison, Wis.; and Casa Boricua Program Space Revitalization Project, Meriden, Conn.
For more information about Abigail's Plan visit www.abigailsplan.org, and for more information about Bridgestone's Fuel the Cause, visit www.BridgestoneTire.com/FueltheCause.
