Spin for Kids receives $75,000 Matching Opportunity from Engelstad Family Foundation

Grand Forks, N.D. – Altru Health Foundation has received a $75,000 grant from the Engelstad Family Foundation as a matching opportunity for Altru’s Spin for Kids event. The 9th annual Spin for Kids will take place on April 14, 2018, at Red River High School in Grand Forks.

Altru’s Spin for Kids is an annual indoor stationary bike race, raising over $660,000 since it began in 2009. Teams of all different backgrounds and riding abilities participate, with each rider taking his or her turn for 20 minutes. Each year, teams get dressed up in costumes to join the fun, with several teams loyally returning year after year. All funds raised directly benefit children with a variety of special needs due to neurological, orthopedic, and genetic disorders, as well as problems with developmental delays. Proceeds are disbursed to qualifying families to help ease the struggles they face every day and help children in our communities live the fullest lives possible.

Some of the items purchased through Spin for Kids include:

• Therapy and Medical co-payment assistance
• Wheelchair, car seat, and specialty positioning aides
• Various adaptive 2 and 3-wheel bikes and safety accessories
• SMILE Program
• UND language and literacy programs
• Orthotics and specialty braces
• Sensory and play therapy equipment

“The Engelstad family continues to be very generous in their support of scholarships for financially eligible families. Their matching grant gift will double the number of families served who are in need of support for their children's therapeutic and specialty health care needs. Words can't express my gratitude and appreciation for their kindness,” said Jon Green, Executive Director of Altru Health Foundation.

“The Spin for Kids mission is being accomplished each year in part because of the generous gift from the Engelstad Family Foundation and the creative fundraising efforts of the Spin for Kids participants,” states Rhonda Roed, co-chair of Spin for Kids and Manager of the Rehabilitation Hospital and Inpatient Therapy at Altru Health System. “One hundred percent of the funds raised are hard at work providing medical assistance, equipment, and specialty services for children and their families in our region.”

Ralph Engelstad and his wife, Betty, created the Engelstad Family Foundation to enable their family to direct their assets to meet the needs of others. If you are interested in supporting Spin for Kids 2018, contact Altru Health Foundation at 701.780.5000 or go to altru.org/spinforkids.

About Spin for Kids

The Spin for Kids mission is to provide therapy, programs, services, and equipment to children with special needs within our community and region. Families with children who have special needs often face lifelong medical bills and expenses, and insurance does not always cover these costs. All money raised by Spin for Kids is dispersed to qualifying families to help each child to live the fullest life possible.

About Altru Health System

Altru Health System is a community-owned, integrated system with an acute care hospital, a specialty hospital, more than a dozen clinics in Grand Forks and the region, and a large home care network. It employs nearly 200 physicians and 4,000 staff and has an annual net operating revenue of more than $549 million. As the first member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, Altru’s providers have access to clinically integrated tools extending Mayo Clinic’s knowledge and expertise to patients.