NFL Star, Ben Roethlisberger has made a big donation that will help the Cape Coral Police Department keep citizens safer.

On October 13th, Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl Quarterback and Findlay, OH native, Ben Roethlisberger, announced the third and fourth grants of the 2016 season from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at The Giving Back Fund. The Foundation announced that it was  distributing grants to the Cape Coral Police Department and the Davie Police Department.

Today, the Cape Coral Police Department was presented with a check, care of the Cape Coral Community Foundation, from the The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation in the amount of $9,974.  The Cape Coral Police Department will use this grant to build a new obedience obstacle course to assist with the training of its K-9 Unit.

During the 2016 NFL season, The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation is distributing grants to K-9 units of police and fire departments in the cities and surrounding communities of each regular season away game for the Steelers. The Foundation will also distribute several grants to the Pittsburgh area. The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation invited police and fire departments across the country to submit proposals detailing their needs.

This marks the 10th season that the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation has distributed grants to K-9 units. The mission of the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation is to support K-9 units of police and fire departments throughout the United States, with a particular emphasis on support for service dogs in Pittsburgh, PA. Roethlisberger and the Foundation also support Make-A-Wish.

The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation distributed more than $170,000 in grants to K-9 units around the country during the 2015 NFL season, including $93,250 in the Pittsburgh community. The Foundation has distributed in excess of $1.5 million since 2007.

Lieutenant Dana Coston, Cape Coral Police Department Public Affairs Officer said, “Police K-9 are the pro-athletes of the dog world. Keeping our K-9 partners in top form requires daily training and agility equipment is one of the best tools we have to keep our K-9s fit, agile, and ready for anything. I’d like to thank the officers of our K-9 Unit, Officers Jason Matyas, Bob Reese, and Brian Aponte, without whose expertise we would not have even been able to apply for this grant. Thank you to the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation for making this possible. This generous donation will help our K-9s continue to keep the citizens of Cape Coral, and the officers who protect them, safer every day.” 

In commenting on why the mission of the foundation is so important to him, Roethlisberger said, “We’re very fortunate to be in the position that we are able to help these K-9 units. The work that is performed by the dogs and their handlers as well as the bond that is formed is incredible. We’re just thrilled to do our small part.”

Fans of The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation can support future K-9 grants by joining Ben’s crowdfunding campaign on https://pledgeit.org/big-ben. Big Ben is pledging $1,000 per touchdown this season to his foundation. Supporters can increase the impact by pledging to donate any amount per touchdown.

For more information about the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation or The Giving Back Fund, please contact Charisse Browner or visit www.bigben7.com or www.givingback.org.

About Ben Roethlisberger

Ben Roethlisberger is in his 13th season as quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers and was selected for the 2016 Pro Bowl game—the fourth selection of his career. At 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, he is aptly referred to as Big Ben, and has become known for big performances and humble approach. Roethlisberger is one of only 10 starting quarterbacks to win two or more Super Bowls. In 2009, he led the Steelers to a 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Tampa with a thrilling touchdown pass in the final seconds. In 2006, Roethlisberger became the youngest starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl, defeating the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 in Detroit. Roethlisberger earned his second consecutive Pro Bowl selection and his fourth overall selection in 2015 (2007, 2011, 2014-15), and already holds most of the passing records for the Steelers. He is the only quarterback to lead his team to the conference championship game in each of his first two seasons. He was the unanimous Rookie of the Year in 2004, breaking Dan Marino’s rookie records for completion percentage and passer rating, and was the first quarterback in NFL history to compile a 13-0 regular season record as a rookie.

Roethlisberger was raised in Findlay, OH and was a three-sport star at Findlay High School. He went on to set nearly every quarterback record at Miami University (Ohio) prior to foregoing his senior season and becoming the 11th overall pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2004 NFL Draft. Roethlisberger resides near Pittsburgh with his wife Ashley, daughter Baylee, sons Benjamin and Bodie, and dog Remy. 

About The Giving Back Fund

The Giving Back Fund (GBF) is a national public charity that creates and professionally manages charitable foundations and other philanthropic programs for athletes, entertainers, business entrepreneurs, and corporations. Since our founding in 1997, GBF has created an important niche in expanding and diversifying philanthropy, particularly among young people, women and people of color. Our unique structure allows donors to direct more of their charitable dollars to causes they care about and less to administrative overhead. To date, The Giving Back Fund has provided philanthropic consulting, management and programming to more than 200 athletes, entertainers, entrepreneurs, and other high net worth individuals. GBF has overseen the distribution of more than $30,000,000 in charitable grants within the United States and other countries, and has developed dozens of unique scholarship, mentoring, medical, arts, and other philanthropic programs. For additional information, please visit www.givingback.org.