Finish Line Youth Foundation Supports Beyond the Ball with $50,000 grant

INDIANAPOLIS, June 6, 2011 — The Finish Line Youth Foundation (FLYF) today announced its newest $50,000 Legacy Grant recipient, Beyond the Ball (BTB). BTB is a Chicago based organization that uses sports to connect people and improve communities.

The $50,000 FLYF Legacy Grant will be used to build new basketball courts in the neighborhood of Little Village, which is on the West side of Chicago.

“The work that Beyond the Ball does in Little Village is amazing,” said FLYF Executive Director Marty Posch. “After visiting with leaders of the organization and seeing firsthand the tremendous impact they are making in their community, it was an easy decision to support this organization in a big way.”

“We are thankful for Finish Line Youth Foundation's commitment to our community,” affirmed Rob Castaneda, executive director of Beyond the Ball. “Their support will allow us to provide programming that meets the specific needs of our community, and their partnership will help us run a program that was globally recognized as the ‘Most Courageous Use of Sport’ last fall at the Beyond Sport Summit. We look forward to what can be accomplished through this generous grant.”

Finish Line Youth Foundation announces funding for 2011 first quarter

The Finish Line Youth Foundation has announced its funding for the 1st quarter of 2011. The foundation works hard to build partnerships with organizations around the country that work with children leading healthy active lifestyles, or with summer camps for children that are sick and / or disabled.

“This quarter was extremely gratifying for the foundation”, Executive Director Marty Posch stated. “We are excited to help out these amazing programs all over the country that are impacting kids lives where our customers and employees live and work.”

Below is a list of the organizations that FLYF funded this quarter, along with a brief description and location.

• Bike Works (Seattle, Washington): Bike Works builds sustainable communities by educating youth and promoting bicycling. www.bikeworks.org/
• Camp Kesem (Lafayette, California): Camp Kesem is a college student run summer camp for kids with a parent who has (or has had) cancer. www.campkesem.org
• Camp Laurel (Pasadena, California): Camp Laurel provides hundreds of children living with HIV and AIDS an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors while forming support groups with their peers. www.camplaurel.org
• Camp Riley (Indianapolis, Indiana): Camp Riley helps inspire youth with physical disabilities to realize their potential as they become increasingly independent. www.rileykids.org/about/camp_riley/
• Camp Shriver (Boston, Mass.): Camp Shriver is an inclusive summer program for children with and without intellectual disabilities www.csde.umb.edu/shriver.html
• City Kids Wilderness Project (Washington, DC): Provides enriching life experiences for underserved and at–risk children can enhance their lives, the lives of their family and the greater community www.citykids.com
• City WILD (Denver, Colorado): A bold effort to bring the typically exclusive world of outdoor experiential education to a broad non–traditional audience: low–income youth of color. www.citywild.org
• Deepwood Foundation (Mentor, Ohio): Summer camp for children with developmental disabilities, such as Mental Retardation, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and behavioral challenges among others. www.deepwoodfoundation.org
• Diabetes Youth Foundation of Indiana (Noblesville, Indiana): Summer camp for children with diabetes. www.dyfofindiana.org/
• Grand Rapids Wheelchair Association (Grand Rapids, Michigan): Summer camp for children in wheelchairs. www.grwsa.com/
• Hibiscus Children’s Center (Vero Beach, Florida): Hibiscus provides safety for abused, abandoned and neglected children through prevention programs, residential programs, shelter programs, and recovery programs. Funding is for their summer camp. www.hibiscuschildrenscenter.org/
• Junior Blind of America (Los Angeles, California): Summer Camp for helping children and adults who are blind, visually impaired or multi–disabled achieve independence. www.juniorblind.org/
• Noble of Indiana (Indianapolis, Indiana): Summer camp for children who are mentally disabled. www.nobleofindiana.org
• Northwest Burn Foundation (Seattle, Washington): Summer camp for children that are burn survivors. www.nwburn.org/
• Outside the Box (Indianapolis, Indiana): Summer camp for children with developmental disabilities. www.otbonline.org
• People Serving People (Minneapolis, Minnesota): Summer camp for children. People Serving People serves homeless children and their families and provide new opportunities for healthy, stable family life. www.peopleservingpeople.org
• Special Kids, Inc (Murfreesboro, Tennessee): Summer camp for children with special needs. www.specialkids–tn.com/
• Westhab (Westchester County, New York): Summer camp for underprivileged and homeless children. www.westhab.org/
• Girls Inc (Portland, Oregon): Girls Inc inspires girls to be strong, smart, and bold. Sporting Change is a new program aimed at health and fitness in girls. www.girlsincnworegon.org/
• Albertina Keers (Portland, Oregon): Mission is to partner with families and the community to support people with developmental disabilities and mental health challenges to lead self–determined lives and realize their full potential. www.albertinakerr.org/
• Glendale Outdoor Leadership Schools (Glendale, California): Leadership School (GOLS) is to enhance quality of life and personal growth of children through outdoor recreation and environmental education. www.setgols.org/
• Heart House (Austin, Texas): Heart House is a free after school program that provides a safe haven and academic support and fitness activities to low–income children. www.hearthouse.org
• Lovelane (Lincoln, Mass): Lovelane Special Needs Horseback Riding Program provides high–quality therapeutic horseback riding to achieve occupational, physical, speech, cognitive and other therapeutic gains, focusing on children with special needs. www.lovelane.org
• Special Olympics Washington (Seattle, Washington): Funding for the 2011 Special Olympics of Greater Washington. www.sowa.org

For more information or questions please contact Marty Posch at mposch@finishline.com

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The inaugural Bowl for Kids was a tremendous success! Over 250 Finish Line Employees, friends, families, sponsors and community members came out to make for an incredible day! Finish Line employees helped fundraise over $40,000 for a first year event. Thanks to Indianapolis Colts player Adam Vinatieri and Indiana University legend Quinn Buckner for being our celebrity guests for the day. Thanks also to our title sponsor Barnes and Thornburg, we could not have done this without you!

The work of the Finish Line Youth Foundation (FLYF) continued in 2010 as the organization...

• Experienced record-setting fundraising results during its annual holiday fund drive
• Assisted in supporting relief efforts for Haitian earthquake victims
• Elected new board members to guide the Foundation's initiatives into the future
• Awarded grants to numerous non-for-profit organizations within the scope of the Youth Foundation's mission.

For more details on the Finish Line Youth Foundation's recent activities, please review the news and events below.

Haiti Relief Efforts

Following the catastrophic earthquake that struck Haiti in early January 2010, the Finish Line Youth Foundation quickly joined forces with FL stores and Samaritan's Feet, for a special in-store collection to raise funds for Haiti relief efforts. The in-store collection ran from January 22, 2010 through April 5, 2010, raising nearly $1 million. In May 2010, as pledged, the Foundation presented Action Against Hunger with a $50,000 contribution. The contribution will assist Action Against Hunger in its efforts to provide access to clean water and sanitation to earthquake survivors. As part of the overall efforts 32 large water reservoirs have been provided to camps for those residents displaced by the earthquake, which has helped 64,000 Haiti residents (primarily children) have access to safe drinking water, as well as other necessities for continued survival.

Grand Recipients

The following organizations were awarded grants: Back 2 Basics Kids Foundation, Decatur, GA; Center for Autism and Related Disabilities New England, York, ME; Camp Sunshine, Casco, ME; Bogalusa YMCA, Bogalusa, LA; City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation, Minneapolis, MN; Fiver Children's Foundation, New York, NY; Heartspring, Wichita, KS; J.F. Shea Therapeutic Riding Center, San Juan Capistrano, CA; Neighborhood Bike Works, Philadelphia, PA; Noble Inc., Indianapolis, IN; Northwest Burn Foundation, Seattle, WA; The People's Burn Foundation, Indianapolis, IN; People Serving People Charities, Inc., Minneapolis, MN; Beyond the Ball, Chicago, IL; Capital Region Youth Tennis Foundation, Albany, NY; Challenged Athletes Dream Complex, Inex, TX; Club Esteem, Melbourne, FL; Courage Center, Golden Valley, MN; Hale Reservation, Westwood, MA; Row New York, New York, NY

Golf Outing

The Finish Line Youth Foundation announced that it will host the 8th annual FLYF Golf Outing on Tuesday, September 14, 2010. The event is returning to The Bridgewater Club in Carmel, IN, and will once again play host to Finish Line vendors from across the country. All proceeds from the golf outing benefit FLYF in its ongoing grant making efforts to qualifying not-for-profit organizations. The day of golf will be followed with dinner and a live auction. For more information, please contact FLYF Executive Director Marty Posch at mposch@finishline.com, or 317-613-6799.

New Board Members

The Finish Line Youth foundation announces the election of six new members to its Board of Directors. The new board members include Ed Wilhelm, Finish Line executive vice president, chief financial officer and assistant secretary, Chad Edmundson, Finish Line vice president, real estate, Lisa Robinson, Finish Line director, talent management, Mike Northrop, Finish Line regional vice president. As part of the continuing evolution of The Youth Foundation, the organization introduced board leadership from outside of Finish Line for the first time in its history. The organization is pleased to welcome Curtis Simic, President Emeritus of Indiana University Foundation and Danny Dean, President Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Foundation to its Board of Directors.

Grant Recipients

In other news, the following organizations were awarded grants:

Amputee Coalition of America, Knoxville, TN; Camp Del Corazon, Hollywood, CA; Dragonfly Forest, Inc, Conshohocken, PA; Modified Athletics for Kids, Inc., W. Lafayette, IN; Muscular Dystrophy Association, Longmeadow, MA; Rising Star Academy Inc., Mt. Clemens, MI; Stepping Stones Center, Cincinnati, OH; The Washington Hospital Foundation, Washington, PA; Athletes Serving Athletes, Cockeysville, MD; Figure Skating in Harlem, New York, NY; Girls in the Game, Chicago, IL; Good Shepherd Services, New York, NY; Michigan Disability Sports Alliance, Waterford, MI; Play Ball Indiana, Indianapolis, IN; Special Equestrians, Inc., Warrington, PA; Indianapolis Parks Foundation, Indianapolis, IN

Holiday Fundraising Results

Finish Line Youth Foundation raised more than $1.3 million in the company's stores during its 2009 Holiday Fund Drive. Funds raised will go directly to the Foundation's efforts in effective and inclusive grant making to organizations serving youth throughout the country. FLYF is very proud of the fundraising results and grateful for the generosity of Finish Line customers for their efforts in this year's fund drive that was so phenomenally successful.

Haiti Relief Efforts

Finish Line Youth Foundation announces its support for the Haiti Relief efforts. In response to the catastrophic earthquake that struck Haiti, the Finish Line, the Finish Line Youth Foundation, its customers, employees and charitable partners mobilized to lend support to the many victims of this tragedy.

Finish Line began collecting monetary donations on January 7, 2010 in its stores and at www.finishline.com for Samaritan's Feet, a not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to providing shoes for impoverished children around the world. In response to this catastrophe, Samaritan's Feet is redirecting $50,000 from this collection drive to help distribute shoes specifically for the people of Haiti.

The Finish Line Youth Foundation will, in turn, match monetary donations from customers up to the first $50,000 collected. These funds will be distributed to Action Against Hunger, a global humanitarian organization committed to ending world hunger, in an effort to bring a small measure of comfort to the Haitian people.

Grant Recipients

The following organizations were awarded grants from October of 2008:

A & A Cottages - Mesa, AZ; Communities for People, Inc. - Boston, MA; Friends of Fort Fort Dupont Ice Arena - Washington, D.C; Fugees Family, Inc. - Scottdale, GA; Huntingdon Community Center - Huntingdon, PA; Jonathon's Place - Dallas, TX; Keshet Dance Company - Albuquerque, NM; Kingsley House - New Orleans, LA; Hassanein Boys and Girls Club, Queens - Queens, NY; Arthritis Foundation of Pacific Northwest Chapter - Seattle, WA; Boulder Parks and Recreation Foundation - Boulder, CO; Center for the Visually Impaired - Altanta, GA; Jameson Camp - Indianapolis, IN; Diabetes Youth Foundation of Indiana - Kokomo, IN

The Finish Line Youth Foundation Board of Directors is pleased to announce the election of three new board members; Linda Disher, Jenni Dillon and Cindie Norris. All three new members are employees of Finish Line, Inc. headquarters for both organizations are in Indianapolis.

Jenni Dillon began with Finish Line in October 2005 as Director of Merchandise Planning & Allocation. Jenni was promoted to Vice President of Merchandise Planning & Allocation in February 2007, and continues in that position.

Cindie Norris started with the Finish Line in July 1996 as a Special Project Manager in the MIS department. In 1999 she became Store Systems Manager and in 2001 was promoted to Director, and continues in that position.

Linda Disher started in May 1980 working in the Accounting/Finance area. Linda currently holds the position of Accounting Manager responsible for Sales Audit & Budgeting as well as the finance liaison for Payroll.

All three new board members look forward to the challenge of striving to provide strong leadership to the FLYF Board of Directors.

Grant Recipients

The following organizations were awarded grants from May of 2008:

American School for the Deaf; Carlisle Family YMCA; Children's Home of Cincinnati; Crossroads Rehabilitation Center; Easter Seals Massachusetts; Easter Seals New York; Easter Seals Virginia; Idaho Elks Rehabilitation Hospital;; Autism Society of McLean County, IL; B & G Club of Cumberland Co.; Central Coast Junior Golf, Inc.; Clarence Clay Junior Golf Foundation; EFASC; Greater Melbourne Police Athletic League; Lawrence Hall Youth Services; Wade Center

The 2008 "Tee It For Kids" golf outing is scheduled for Tuesday, September 16, 2008, to take place at the Bridgewater Club in Carmel, Indiana. Several more details are to follow, in the meantime, if need additional information, contact Executive Director Marty Posch at mposch@finishline.com or (317)613-6799.

The Finish Line Youth Foundation is happy to announce that more than 1,000,000,000 was raised in it's "All I Want" holiday fund drive that took place in each and every Finish Line store throughout the country. The funds raised will directly go back to the communities where Finish Line customers and employees work & play.

Grant Recipients

The following organizations were awarded grants from May of 2008:

Bea's Kids, TX; Citvitan Foundation, AZ; Neighborhood Center, Inc, MI; Project Avary, CA; Sunshine Physically Challenged Foundation, WA; SW Autism Research/Resource Center, AZ; Bay Area Outreach & Recreation, CA; Beckwourth Mountain Club, CO; Dig For Kids, CA; Fontana Aquatics Clib, CA; J.F. Kennedy Center, Inc., PA; Rebekah Children's Services, CA; The Children's Course, OR; Association House of Chicago, IL; El Paso Diabetes Association, TX; Gallop, NY; Tennis In The Hood, Inc., GA

FLYF recently held its fifth annual "Putting for Kids" golf outing in Indianapolis. Once again, title sponsors were Nike, adidas and Allegheny Design Management. The outing had more than 160 players and was followed by dinner and a very successful live auction. The event has raised more than $250,000.

Grant Recipients

The following organizations were awarded grants from August of 2007:

Alivio Medical Center, IL; Amputee Coalition of America, TN; Arizona Recreation Center, AZ; Camden Neighborhood Renaissance, NJ; Camp Adayin, MN; Camp Quality USA, MS; City Youth in Fitness & Education, NC; College Mentors for Kids, Inc., IN; Easter Seals UCP, IL; Family Focus, Inc., MN; Friendship Ventures, MN; Girls on the Run, San Fransisco, CA; Harlem RBI, Inc., NY; Ideal Edge, Inc., PA; Michigan Assoc. of Deaf and Hard of Hearing, MI; Mission Healthcare Foundation, NC; Rocking Horse Center, OH; San Diego Adaptive Sports Foundation, OH; West Cobb Youth Athletic Association, GA; Youth Challenge, OH.

Grant Recipients

The following organizations were awarded grants from May of 2007:

Arthritis Foundation, CA; Best Buddies Indiana, IN; Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence, MA; Boys and Girls Club of Southwestern Michigan, MI; Camp Courant, CT; Camp Twin Lakes, GA; Children's Home of Cincinnati, Ohio, OH; Children's Aid Society, NY; Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron, OH; Dallas SCORES, TX; Damar Services, Inc., IN; Denver SCORES, CO; Family Center, NC; Girls Incorporated of Indianapolis, IN; Grand Rapids Wheelchair Sports Association, MI; Homestretch, VA; JCCs of Greater Philadelphia, PA; Kidpower, CA; Latin American Community Center Inc., DE; National Ability Center, UT; Niagara Police Athletic League, NY; Northwest Burn Foundation, WA; Phoenix Children's Hospital Foundation, AZ; Ramapo for Children, NY; Transitions Foundation, Inc., NY; Victory Gallop, Inc., OH; Women's Sports Foundation, IL.

The 2007 "Putting For Kids" Golf Outing is scheduled for Thursday, August 23, 2007, to take place at Broadmoor Country Club in Indianapolis, Indiana. If you would like to learn more about or participate in the outing, please contact Executive Director Marty Posch at mposch@finishline.com.

All proceeds from this event directly benefit the Finish Line Youth Foundation. Click here for event information and sign up forms.

The Finish Line Youth Foundation is happy to announce that the 2006 "Help Kids Play" campaign raised more than $853,0000.00. The funds raised will go directly to supporting the communities where Finish Line customers and employees work and play. Thanks to everyone that helped make a difference.

The Finish Line has started our 10th annual holiday fundraiser in stores all over the country to benefit the Finish Line Youth Foundation. The promotion is entitled "Let Kids Play!" and 100% of the funds raised in Finish Line stores will go directly to the Youth Foundation. The funds will then be donated to qualified non-profit organizations that provide opportunities for kids to be involved in sports or to attend camps that provide programs that get kids active. Finish Line's goal this year is to raise $1 million. The fundraiser will run in stores until December 31, 2006.

The Finish Line Youth Foundation has announced that it has completed its mission review and will begin taking grant applications January 1, 2007. All applications must be entered online by going to www.finishline.com and clicking on the Youth Foundation link at the bottom of the page. Organizations can complete a short Eligibility Quiz, or you can see our Guidelines for Giving online.

The new focus of the Foundation is to give to qualified non-profit organizations that provide access to sports programs, as well as camps that get kids active, especially camps that provide services to disadvantaged or disabled youth.

The Finish Line Youth Foundation recently held its fourth annual "Putting For Kids" golf outing in Indianapolis. Vendor partners from Finish Line sponsored the outing and bought foursomes to help raise over $200,000 for the Finish Line Youth Foundation. Nike, adidas and Allegheny Design Management were title sponsors of this year's event.