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Rapid City Rush

Rush Announce Details Surrounding "Rush Gives Back Night”

March 16, 2021 - ECHL (ECHL)
Rapid City Rush News Release


(RAPID CITY, SD) - The Rapid City Rush, proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Arizona Coyotes, are excited to announce the details surrounding the team's inaugural "Rush Gives Back Night", in conjunction with the team's annual "Teddy Bear Toss", presented by Black Hills Energy, on April 3rd against the Wichita Thunder.

The Rush organization has set the price of every ticket, regardless of location, for the April 3rd showdown against Wichita to $25. From each ticket sold, $5 will go into a fund that will then be donated to four partners: Boys and Girls Clubs of the Black Hills, Court Appointed Special Advocates ("CASA"), Fork Real Café, and Special Olympics South Dakota.

Black Hills Energy, a corporate partner of the Rush since the inaugural 2008-09 CHL season, has pledged to match up to $10,000 of the money raised for this cause to be donated to the aforementioned partners.

"Since I joined the Rush family in 2019, my goal has not just been to build an organization that succeeds on the ice, but to create a team that excels off the ice as a community partner. I can't begin to express how proud I am of our staff and team that this mission has not been taken lightly and is the forefront of one of our upcoming promotional nights," said Todd Mackin, President of Spire Hockey. "It's no secret that this last year has been tough on all of us, whether mentally, emotionally, or financially. Having passed the one-year anniversary of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, we recognized community partners that could use assistance after braving the challenges created by this illness. To have the opportunity to donate up to $20,000 in addition to Teddy Bears for local organizations in need is exciting and will highlight the continuous generosity of our fans and sponsors. I can't wait for 'Rush Gives Back Night' and hope that this remains a staple of our promotional nights for years to come."

"Black Hills Energy is proud to partner with the Rush on April 3rd as we plan to match up to $10,000 of the doors raised during the game for this worthy cause that will benefit the four non-profit organizations that impact our Black Hills communities," says Marc Eyre, Vice President of South Dakota Electric Operations.

The Rush organization's annual "Teddy Bear Toss" will also take place on "Rush Gives Back Night". Due to Covid-19 protocol, we ask fans to throw their brand new Teddy Bears onto the ice in the first intermission, NOT following the first Rush goal per normal custom. Following the game, bears will be donated to CASA, Rural America Initiatives, and Youth and Family Services.

Boys & Girls Clubs provide young people with opportunities to engage in programs that help them achieve academic success, take charge of their health by building healthy habits that will stick with them throughout their lives, and foster the skills they need to become leaders in their communities. The mission of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Black Hills is to enable all young people to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Three branches of the Boys & Girls Clubs will receive donation of funds: Hill City, Hot Springs, and Lead-Deadwood.

The mission of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) is to protect abused and neglected children through the advocacy of trained volunteers. Under strong leadership, the CASA staff strives to ensure every abused or neglected child involved in court proceedings is appointed a Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteer. CASA has two groups involved in "Rush Gives Back Night" for both funds and Teddy Bear donations: Northern Hills CASA and Seventh Circuit CASA.

Fork Real Café is a non-profit "pay-what-you-can" community cafe that offers a welcoming environment and fresh farm-to-table meals dedicated to real people, real food and real conversations. The "pay what you can" concept allows customers a variety of options to pay for their meal. Patrons can pay the value of the meal, pay it forward by paying a little more, by paying for someone else's meal or purchase meal tokens, or volunteer in exchange for a meal. This concept is modeled after One World Everybody Eats, an organization which has a network of over 60 cafes operating throughout the United States. Their vision is to serve and empower people through food, while their mission is to build up community using food and conversation.

Rural America Initiatives (RAI) has been the most effective service provider for the most at-risk Rapid City families for close to thirty years. RAI is an all-Native non-profit organization founded in 1986 to address the needs of chronic, pervasive poverty of the most vulnerable Native American families who have restricted access to services in Rapid City. A priority is to serve children who are homeless, handicapped or in foster care. Almost 50% of the children in RAI programs are homeless. Between RAI's Early Head Start, Head Start and Ateyapi programs in the elementary, middle and high schools, they serve children from pregnancy through High School and their families.​

Special Olympics is founded on the belief that people with intellectual disabilities can, with proper instruction and encouragement, learn, enjoy and benefit from participation in individual and team sports. The Mission of Special Olympics South Dakota is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children (8 years and older) and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community. Special Olympics South Dakota has two organizations receiving donation of funds: Rapid City Flame and Rapid City Storm.

Youth & Family Services provides comprehensive, award-winning programs to more than 14,000 children and families each year. Although YFS is located in Rapid City, they provide programs and services in every county in western South Dakota. The majority of their programs focus on meeting the needs of underprivileged youth, however, they offer resources and support to virtually everyone in our community. YFS is dedicated to supporting children in overcoming these challenges by building a network of coordinated services that give them hope. The agency is committed to developing community-wide networks for creating bridges out of poverty and increasing economic literacy among young people and their families.

To purchase your tickets for "Rush Gives Back Night", click HERE. For media inquiries, please contact Mark Binetti, Rush Senior Director of Communications/Broadcaster at mark@rapidcityrush.com, or Mutch Usera, Black Hills Energy Senior Program Manager-Community Relations at mutch.usera@blackhillscorp.com.

The Rush conclude their eight-game homestand against the Utah Grizzlies this upcoming weekend. Puck drop for both "College Night", presented by Bud Light Seltzer on Friday, March 19th, and "Nickelodeon Night featuring Double Dare", sponsored by Singh Contracting on Saturday, March 20th, is slated for 7:05 p.m. MDT.

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