Moving the miracle chain: USA Gymnastics gives back to the community at National Gymnastics Day
The American gymnastics community came forward in a selfless initiative to raise funds for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals on the National Gymnastics Day earlier this year.
The National Gymnastics Day has long been used as a platform for community service and promotion of physical fitness through charity and fundraising.
Gymnasts perform the best of their skills for avid audiences and celebrate their physical prowess by breaking records.
This year’s National Gymnastics Day’s celebrations invited contributions from more than 400 gymnastics clubs across the United States.
The fundraiser’s featured attractions included a world record for the highest number of simultaneous handstands – a whopping total of 20,478.
Together these gymnastics clubs managed to collect a sum of 120,050 dollars for the children under treatment at various Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals nationwide.
This latest contribution has taken the USA Gymnastics’ total donations over their ten-year commitment to a staggering 1.5 million dollars.
"Every year the gymnastics community steps up to raise money for this amazing cause. Children's Miracle Network Hospitals does important work for kids throughout our country, and USA Gymnastics is proud of the partnership and the support it provides," said
Steve Penny, President of USA Gymnastics.
It is important to recognize the achievements of clubs and individual gymnasts who made the most significant contributions to the cause this year.
Among the clubs, Northern Elite of Flanders, N.J. raised the highest number of donations amounting to 22,171 dollars.
San Jose’s California Sports Center generated 18,012 dollars worth of funds and Ohio’s local gymnastics club Gymnastics World contributed 17,935 dollars.
As far as individual donations go, Abby Villenauve established herself as the ‘Mother Theresa’ of the National Gymnastics Day. For the third consecutive year, Villenauve topped the fundraising honours.
Villenauve is a member of Gymnastics World, and accumulated 7,642 dollars for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Two gymnasts, both belonging to Northern Elite, had the second and the third highest fund accumulations. Shelly Katz raised 4,555 dollars while Mary Kate Cacchione was only five dollars short of tying second place with Katz.
The USA Gymnastics first partnered with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals in 2001 on the National Gymnastics Day.
The Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals is an international not for profit organization. It was founded in 1982 to address the dearth in medical research and to promote awareness of health and fitness issues particularly pertinent to children.
Another function of the organization is to facilitate the treatment of children who are suffering from illness through research, training, provision of equipment and financial support.
About 170 hospitals fall under the charity organization’s network, which have, to date, benefited from 4 billion dollars worth of funding.
The National Gymnastics Day has thus become more than just a platform for promoting awareness about the benefits of gymnastics and the importance of physical fitness.
Its partnership with the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals has morphed it into the much needed ray of hope for children and families all over the United States.
Such initiatives need to be appreciated for what they do for the community at large. Recognition has that magical power to invite effort in an upward spiral, and we hope community service takes after that pattern.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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