lamberts-lost-tooth
05-01-2008, 03:16 AM
Steelers' Big Ben tosses $100,000 to the police dogs
By John Harris
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is using part of the richest contract in Pittsburgh sports history to give back to the community.
He announced Wednesday that his Ben Roethlisberger Foundation and the Giving Back Fund will contribute nearly $100,000 in grants to local police K-9 units.
The grants will be used to purchase new dogs and protective equipment and also upgrade K-9 units.
Recipients include police departments in Pittsburgh, Allegheny Township, Indiana Township, Fox Chapel, Monessen, Brentwood, Homestead, Clairton, Heidelberg, Munhall and the University of Pittsburgh as well as the Allegheny County Sheriff's Department.
Roethlisberger, 26, signed an eight-year, $102-million contract extension in March. His foundation makes financial contributions to improve K-9 units in the cities of Steelers' opponents during the NFL season.
"It's tough to choose who gets the dogs and the grants," Roethlisberger said. "But we hope to continue to get more support from sponsors and to be able to keep this going. We'd love to do this every year for the rest of my career here."
Roethlisberger made the announcement during a news conference at the city police training academy with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, police Chief Nate Harper and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato.
"They are the most underappreciated officer there is," said Roethlisberger, who owns a rottweiler and a Burmese mountain dog. "An officer feels pretty safe when they have a canine on their side."
"We can't do our jobs without them," said Pittsburgh police Officer Dan Tice. "It's very important to have the dogs in the street. They smell things that we can't smell. They hear things that we can't find. Inside a building, they can find somebody."
Many police departments depend on public donations to purchase police dogs and their protective vests.
"A lot of departments weren't able to afford the dogs," Harper said. "We ourselves, as large of a department that we have, went from 24 dogs to 16, 17 dogs. Having Ben shine the light on it, showing a valuable asset within the department, is very critical."
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_565148.html
By John Harris
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is using part of the richest contract in Pittsburgh sports history to give back to the community.
He announced Wednesday that his Ben Roethlisberger Foundation and the Giving Back Fund will contribute nearly $100,000 in grants to local police K-9 units.
The grants will be used to purchase new dogs and protective equipment and also upgrade K-9 units.
Recipients include police departments in Pittsburgh, Allegheny Township, Indiana Township, Fox Chapel, Monessen, Brentwood, Homestead, Clairton, Heidelberg, Munhall and the University of Pittsburgh as well as the Allegheny County Sheriff's Department.
Roethlisberger, 26, signed an eight-year, $102-million contract extension in March. His foundation makes financial contributions to improve K-9 units in the cities of Steelers' opponents during the NFL season.
"It's tough to choose who gets the dogs and the grants," Roethlisberger said. "But we hope to continue to get more support from sponsors and to be able to keep this going. We'd love to do this every year for the rest of my career here."
Roethlisberger made the announcement during a news conference at the city police training academy with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, police Chief Nate Harper and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato.
"They are the most underappreciated officer there is," said Roethlisberger, who owns a rottweiler and a Burmese mountain dog. "An officer feels pretty safe when they have a canine on their side."
"We can't do our jobs without them," said Pittsburgh police Officer Dan Tice. "It's very important to have the dogs in the street. They smell things that we can't smell. They hear things that we can't find. Inside a building, they can find somebody."
Many police departments depend on public donations to purchase police dogs and their protective vests.
"A lot of departments weren't able to afford the dogs," Harper said. "We ourselves, as large of a department that we have, went from 24 dogs to 16, 17 dogs. Having Ben shine the light on it, showing a valuable asset within the department, is very critical."
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_565148.html