Churchill Downs Presents Donations Of More Than $223,000 to Komen For the Cure, Horses & Hope, Dare to Care, UN Food Programme

Jun 24, 2010 John Asher

Churchill Downs officials will present donation checks totaling $223,346 on Thursday, June 24, to four charitable organizations that benefited from fundraising partnerships with the Kentucky Oaks and the new Taste of Derby Presented by Yum Brands™, a new event introduced during Kentucky Derby Week.

Representatives of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, Horses and Hope, Dare to Care and The World Food Programme will be at the historic home of the Kentucky Derby Thursday afternoon to accept checks for the donations to their respective organizations and causes.  The donations will be presented to those groups during in the winner’s circle following the seventh race, which has a scheduled post time of 3:57 p.m. (EDT).

Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world, will receive a check for $118,346 to help fund the search for a cure for breast cancer.  That donation grows out of the second year of the fundraising partnership between Komen for the Cure and the Kentucky Oaks, America’s premier race for 3-year-old fillies held on the eve of the Kentucky Derby. 

Churchill Downs pledged to donate $1 for each person who attended the 2010 renewal of the Oaks, and a record crowd of 116,046 poured through the track’s admission gates on Friday, April 30.  Also included in the Komen fundraising total is $2,300 in winnings from the “Kentucky Oaks Dream Bet,” in which the track wagered $1,000 on each of the 14 fillies that competed in the race.  The winner was the favored Blind Luck, who paid $4.60 for each $2 win wager.

The partnership of Komen for the Cure and the Kentucky Oaks has generated $218,346 in breast cancer research funding during its first two years.

A check for $30,000 will be presented to Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear to benefit her Horses and Hope breast cancer outreach initiative in Kentucky’s horse industry.  Horses and Hope provides breast cancer screening and education to stable workers and other employees at Kentucky racetracks.  The check to be accepted by Mrs. Beshear represents the fulfillment of a Churchill Downs pledge to donate $1 from the sale of each of “Oaks Lily,” the signature drink of the Kentucky Oaks, on the day of the race.

The donations to the United Nations World Food Programme and Louisville’s  Dare to Care Food Bank grew out of the inaugural Taste of Derby, a celebration of food, racing and style hosted by Churchill Downs, which was held at Louisville’s Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center on Thursday, April 29.  The World Food Programme and Dare to Care are key partners in Taste of Derby’s presenting sponsor, Yum! Brands, own World Hunger Relief initiative, the world’s largest private-sector, hunger-relief effort.  Each program received half of the $70,000 in designated proceeds from the 2010 Taste of Derby.

“The fundraising efforts championed by Churchill Downs and these great organizations have produced exciting results, and we are pleased to formally present these contributions to our partners for work that is making a substantial difference in the lives of so many people,” said Dana Johnson, director of community relations for Churchill Downs.  “Kentucky Derby Week and the annual celebration of the Kentucky Oaks have long been important parts of life in this community and region, and it is very gratifying to Churchill Downs and our partners to see these celebrations help to raise critical funding for people in need in our community and beyond.”