Jeff Shiffrin Athlete Resiliency Fund Exceeds Target
The Jeff Shiffrin Athlete Resiliency Fund has exceeded its $3M goal, raising more than $3,075,000 to support all athletes and teams during these uncertain and unprecedented times.
Just over three months after launching the Jeff Shiffrin Athlete Resiliency Fund, U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced the fund has reached and exceeded its original goal of $3M, raising over $3,075,000. In creating the fund, the Shiffrin family, coupled with six families of generous donors, wanted to honor both Jeff’s legacy, as well as contribute to the ongoing pursuit of excellence for all athletes across all sports. Better days are still ahead, and the thrill and challenge of athletes’ Olympic dreams are worth fighting for.
With challenges, come opportunities.
The Shiffrin family believes that great goals can be achieved through hard work, discipline, and resiliency. The goal of the Jeff Shiffrin Athlete Resiliency Fund is to keep athletes’ skis and boards on the snow, despite potential storms ahead. The Jeff Shiffrin Athlete Resiliency Fund will sustain coaching, training camps, and competition expenses now, and hopefully, help bridge the gap through the end of the 2022 fiscal year.
“It is an honor to share that we have fully funded the Jeff Shiffrin Athlete Resiliency Fund,” said Tiger Shaw, President, and CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “We are incredibly grateful to Mikaela, her mother Eileen, and brother Taylor, as well as the six families who helped launch the Fund, for their hard work and energy in creating this crucial piece of funding for our athletes and teams. I can think of no better way of honoring Jeff than by ensuring athletes have access to the resources they need.”
Shiffrin rallied a crew of alumni athletes and current athletes who embody the definition of “resiliency,” including Olympic champions Jonny Mosely, Kikkan Randall, Jessie Diggins as well as three-time World Champion Jeremy Bloom and three-time World Cup winner and Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team downhiller Steven Nyman, to share their unique stories of resilience. In addition, over 30 athletes across sports shared their stories of resilience in U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s social media challenge to #KeepTheFlameAlive. Donations flooded in from around the world, including 19 different countries, and 39 states—with Colorado and New York amassing the most donations. From Latvia to Great Britain and even Luxembourg, U.S. Ski & Snowboard fans from around the world donated and shared their words of encouragement with Shiffrin and her teammates.
“I am so full of gratitude, first, for my teammates for being open and courageous as they shared their stories of resilience...and, of course, to U.S. Ski & Snowboard and the donor families who worked tirelessly to make this Fund a reality,” said Shiffrin. “Finally, I’m thankful to all of those who donated, sent words of encouragement, and shared their own stories of resilience via social media. It was really heartwarming to see all of the feedback, and I know my dad would have been so proud of this project and so excited to see athletes across U.S. Ski & Snowboard off to such a strong start this season. Thank you.”
A big thanks is in order to all of the generous donors and to all of the athletes, led by Shiffrin, for their outreach to their personal networks. The fund has allowed U.S. Ski & Snowboard to sustain our training and competition schedule as many funding sources were impacted due to COVID. This has translated into one of the most successful seasons in history, as we have amassed 27 podiums and eight victories this season across all sports—including a historic Tour de Ski win by Olympic Champion Jessie Diggins—which is a direct result of the consistent funding. On top of that, many athletes have reached the podium for the first time, the points for the first time, and have also enjoyed career-best results.
“This past year has been a master class in resilience, for our organization and our athletes,” added Shaw. “Through this Fund, we will be able to bridge the gap caused by challenges relating to the global pandemic, and beyond. I am humbled by the continued generosity of our donors and supporters, we could not do what we do without the passionate team behind the team.’
“We have had an incredible start to this competition season, and remain grateful to be able to train and compete. This is an important year for us in the run-up to the next Olympics. As medical advances are made and some sense of normalcy returns to the world, we look forward to a brighter 2021, and we cannot wait to celebrate with the world in Beijing in 2022.“
We are now shifting our focus to our annual alpine and freeski and snowboard sport fundraisers to further support the travel costs of each team.
For more information about the Jeff Shiffrin Athlete Resiliency Fund visit keeptheflamealive.org.
