Utah Youth Sports Giving Day close to $4 million in overall donations

SALT LAKE CITY — What started as an ambitious effort to help more Utah children participate in sports has already exceeded organizers' expectations.

Nearly $2.4 million has been donated to Utah Youth Sports Giving Day since the statewide fundraising campaign launched less than two weeks ago.

With matching contributions from Utah businesses, foundations and other organizations, the overall impact of those donations is approaching $4 million.

The first-year campaign was created to help remove one of the biggest obstacles keeping some children from participating in sports: cost.

"We say Utah is the state of sport and that trickles down to our kids and our youth, and having so many young families in our state, we want to make sure that they have the access to sport," said Jenny Teemsma, the vice president of communications for Miller Sports + Entertainment.

From running and rowing to skateboarding, climbing and other activities, youth sports organizations often face costs for equipment, facilities, transportation and travel that can ultimately be passed along to families.

"Rowing naturally is a pretty expensive sport. Our operating costs are pretty high," said Victoria Rojo, head coach for Utah Crew. "Any opportunity that we have to make it so we can give scholarships and lower dues to everyone we need to, makes it so everyone has an opportunity to do a sport that has changed a lot of lives already."

Utah Youth Sports Giving Day is led by Miller Sports + Entertainment in partnership with the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation and the Daniels Fund.

The campaign began Sept. 12 during a Salt Lake Bees game at America First Square in South Jordan.

Organizers had set a goal of raising $1 million in public donations during the two-week campaign. They reached it in less than 10 minutes.

"We were so shocked and just thrilled to see the momentum of this campaign and how quickly Utahns have shown up for youth across the state," said Teemsma.

The public donations build on more than $1.5 million in matching commitments secured before the campaign began.

Utah 2034, America First Credit Union, the Huntsman Family Foundation, Maverik and several other Utah businesses and charitable organizations are among those supporting the effort.

More than 150 nonprofit youth sports organizations from across Utah are participating, allowing donors to choose which programs they would like to support.

For some young Utahns, those programs provide opportunities they might not otherwise have.

Hurricane resident Zoey Mecham recently had the chance to try rappelling through one of those programs called Get Outside Utah.

"I think it's so cool. I've always wanted to do more stuff but never had the resources or the way to do it, so this is just so cool," she said.

Organizers said those kinds of experiences are at the heart of the campaign.

It gives teens and children opportunities to stay active, build confidence and experience sports regardless of their family's financial circumstances.

This is the first year this Utah Youth Sports Giving Day has been organized in the state, and plans are already underway to make it even bigger next year.

"I hope that this just keeps growing and we want more nonprofits to sign up to participate next year," said Teemsma.

Utah Youth Sports Giving Day continues through Saturday.

Donations can be made directly to participating organizations through the Utah Youth Sports Giving Day website*.

*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.

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