Lake Tahoe-based High Fives Foundation is excited to provide an update to its mission statement. I learned of the news this weekend amid the SIA Snow Show, straight from the mouth of co-founder and executive director, Roy Tuscany himself. The updated mission is, “to support the dreams of mountain action sports athletes by raising injury prevention awareness while providing resources and inspiration to those who suffer life-altering injuries.” The kicker there being mountain action sports athletes, a big step up from its roots in the wintersports realm. Of course, skiers and ‘boarders remain a huge part of High Fives; the change simply means an increased number of athletes will benefit from the Foundation’s program services.
“Broadening the scope of the Foundation comes at a time when on-mountain injuries are becoming all too common,” said Tuscany. “It has always been my vision to service the winter action sports and mountain action sports communities, grow the Healing Network and develop new and innovative educational and recovery programs. The expanded mission of the Foundation will allow this vision to be developed and come to life in an positively impactful way.”
The Foundation currently has several programs in place designed to provide financial support to injured athletes, promote injury prevention awareness and provide healing resources.
In a press release this morning, High Fives notes:
“Since the organization’s January 2009 inception, the Empowerment program service has assisted 67 athletes from 19 states in nine respective funding categories which include: living expenses, insurance, travel, health, healing network, adaptive equipment, winter equipment, programs and stoke (positive energy, outlook and attitude). In 2014, the High Fives Foundation set a budget of disbursing $196,000 via board-approved grants through the Winter Empowerment Fund. By 2014’s end, 29 High Fives Athletes and two organizations were awarded a sum of 37 board-approved grants for a total of $249,000.”
High Fives Foundation Chairman of the Board of Directors, Galen Gifford, says, “High Fives is the premier safety net in the winter action sports community, but we recognize the need to service the entire mountain sports community. Injured athletes from other sports have begun contacting the Foundation for grant support toward recovery and other resources. As a result we’ve proudly expanded the mission of the Foundation to serve all athletes living an active mountain action sports lifestyle.”
“It is the vision of the Board, over the next five years, to position High Fives as the premier safety net organization of the mountain action sports community,” Gifford adds.
To learn more about the High Fives Foundation, visit: highfivesfoundation.org.
Gallery: 22 jaw-dropping skiing photos from FREESKIER Volume 17 to fuel your stoke
