Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — The hard work that Dave Nagel and so many others in Steam­­boat Springs put into the inaugural Ride 4 Yellow event is starting to pay off.

A granting committee under the umbrella of the Yampa Valley Com­­munity Foun­­dation now is accepting grant applications. Org­­an­­izations that provide cancer services or support cancer initiatives in Steamboat Sp­­rings will be able to apply for funding, said Heidi Bar­­bee, marketing manager for the Com­­­­munity Foundation.

Nagel, Ride 4 Yellow’s chairman, said so many residents and businesses worked hard to make sure event participants left feeling like they had made a difference.

And they did. The mountain biking event held this past August grossed nearly $339,000. Net proceeds totaled more than $266,000 — half will go to the Livestrong Foundation and the rest will stay in Steamboat.

“At the end of the day, this is the icing on the cake,” Nagel said. “The next thing that’s going to be truly rewarding is to meet people who are beneficiaries of the funds, and seeing the exact impact.”

Community Foun­­dation Ex­­­­­ec­­utive Director Mark An­­der­­sen said the proceeds from Ride 4 Yellow are so important because grant funding is difficult to obtain.

“The success of the event is just going to provide a great benefit locally, not only because there are not as many grant opportunities for cancer locally, but because of the economic times,” he said.

Funds to fight cancer locally aren’t expected to stop coming in.

Nagel, with wife, Aimee, brother Steven and Steven’s wife, Lee, and Linda Armstrong Kelly (Lance Armstrong’s mother) and her husband, Ed Kelly, created the 4 Yellow Foundation.

The foundation will organize and administer three annual events. They are Ride 4 Yellow, the inaugural Ski 4 Yellow in March, both in Steamboat, and Swing 4 Yellow, a summer golf tournament in Plano, Texas.

Nagel said the 4 Yellow Foun­­dation’s goal is to raise $1 million annually.

“Our mission statement is pretty broad,” he said. “It’s basically to raise funds for cancer awareness, to raise funds for organizations or individuals that support, provide or are in need of cancer-related services.”

Barbee said the granting committee now is forming. It will include representatives from Steam­­boat Ski & Re­­sort Corp., Routt County Riders, Honey Stinger, Smart­Wool, U.S. Forest Service, the 4 Yellow Foundation (a Ski 4 Yellow committee member and a Ride 4 Yellow committee member), the local medical community, and the Com­munity Foundation.

Nagel said Verne Lundquist and his wife, Nancy, were invited to participate as honorary members of the committee.

Grant applications are due by 4 p.m. Feb. 11. Barbee said among the organizations that can apply are those awaiting their nonprofit status. She said because funds can’t be granted for individuals, people applying for cancer-related services would have to through Yampa Valley Medical Center.