Since 1946, the proceeds of the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo have been going right back into our community in Colorado Springs.
News5 spoke with Kyle Park, the executive director of the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo Foundation who tells us his foundation makes sure that the money raised does two big things. It helps preserve western heritage and it helps support service members and their families in the Pikes Peak Region
The big focus of their foundation is the local active-duty military. This is made possible through the foundation’s partnership with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Associationwhich helps the rodeo with getting sponsorships. They make sure the funds get into the enlisted military members hands through Morale Readiness, welfare groups, and more. In fact, the foundation has already set aside a base amount of 100,000 dollars this year to go into the pockets of enlisted members.
“So we’ve actually built in that contribution to our budget so even if the rest of the event is a break even, we still know that we are going to be able to donate to our causes by the end of the year,” said Park.
“You know we are big on military. We have a lot of military bases around here and we want to make sure that our active duty feel supported by the military and this is a place that they want to stay.”
It’s important to note that most of the people who help make the rodeo happen are volunteers.
The foundation board, those working the gates, ushers and customer service are all offering their time at no cost.
Kyle tells me without these volunteers this rodeo would look a lot different. It wouldn’t be as big, and they wouldn’t be able to raise as much money for our military members.
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