Birkie still needs $75K to secure permanent start area for the race
I presume the same postcard I received this week from the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation was sent to every other Birkie skier as well. Or at least it went out to the 97 percent of us who have not yet contributed to the ABSF’s effort to raise the money needed to establish a permanent starting area for the annual race on the Telemark Resort property.
The postcard indicates the ABSF has, since kicking off its five-year campaign “Honoring the Legacy-Ensuring the Future,” raised $575,000 from 590 people.
That sounds impressive until you realize that the number of people who have made one-time donations, ranging from $10 to $50,000, is far fewer than the more than 8,000 who ski the Birkie every year. Those who have written checks to the ABSF for this purpose represent “less than 3 percent of our active participants,” the postcard states.
The ABSF says it is $75,000 shy of the $650,000 needed “to fund a permanent start area and year-round trailhead.” Given the ongoing financial straits of the Telemark Lodge in Cable, no one should need convincing that the race needs to secure its own future.
So the ABSF has launched its “25/75/25” push to convince enough Birkie skiers to contribute $25 each to raise $75,000 within 25 days.
“Every single contribution counts and gets us closer to building that permanent start area for YOU – the skier, the biker, the runner, the hiker,” the Birkie website states, referring to the various events now held on the Birkie Trail throughout the year. “If the Birkie and the ABSF have made an impact on your life and you haven’t donated yet, please consider making a $25 contribution to help us get across Lake Hayward and over the FINISH LINE!”
I can afford that much. I expect many of the 97 percent of us can. Go to birkie.com/future to help the ABSF make its goal.