DENVER – Oct. 8, 2012 – The HERA Women’s Cancer Foundation, a nationally recognized ovarian cancer nonprofit, honored Petzl America’s Marketing Director John Evans with its 2012 Power of One Award. The award recognizes one company or individual each year who has made an extraordinary contribution to HERA.
This year, Evans presented HERA with a creative fundraising idea. In partnership with the Ragnar Relay overnight endurance race series, 15 team entry fees would be donated to HERA, with an additional fundraising incentive for the participating teams. As the official headlamp sponsor for the Ragnar Relay Series, Petzl receives free team entries to each of the 15 races nationwide, a $1,260 value per race. By transferring these entries to HERA, teams looking to support the foundation gave their entry dollars directly to HERA in exchange for an entry spot. The incentive for each team to raise additional funds for HERA was a free entry to the race of their choosing in 2013, granted to the team that raised the most in 2012. The initiative raised more than $20,000 for HERA in 2012.
“We are so grateful to John and to Petzl for their longtime support of HERA,” said Meg Steitz, executive director of HERA. “From sales of the HERAbiner to the Ragnar Relay entries, Petzl has been a great partner for HERA. John Evans is the creativity behind these initiatives, and he truly demonstrates the Power of One to advance HERA’s mission, raise awareness, and create a better community.”
Evans is the only recipient to be honored with the Power of One award twice. He was first honored in 2007 for Petzl’s HERAbiner carabiner, which raised awareness for HERA, and through a $1 donation per unit of retail sales, has raised more than $25,000 for the foundation. Evans received this year’s award at a ceremony on September 15 in Salt Lake City.
“I’m fortunate to work for a company that puts such a premium on being a great corporate citizen, inspired by founder Paul Petzl and encouraged throughout our company culture,” said Evans. “It took teamwork to make this happen, and we could not have raised these funds – or given racers a chance to have so much fun doing it – without the good people behind the Ragnar Relay. They deserve as much credit as anyone for working with Petzl and HERA to create a program that really made an impact.”
About the HERA Foundation:
Established in 2002, the HERA Women’s Cancer Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to stop the loss of women from ovarian cancer by promoting Health, Empowerment, Research, and Awareness. As a nationally recognized ovarian cancer organization, HERA provides funding for cutting-edge research grants to scientists at respected medical institutions. In so doing, HERA attracts more young researchers to expand the scientific understanding of ovarian cancer while improving the lives of those battling the disease. In addition, HERA awards grants to local community groups to raise awareness about the disease in novel and unusual ways. More information is available at www.herafoundation.org.
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