joey cheek celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men's 500m speed skating final at the turin 2006 winter olympic games. photo | brian bahr/getty images |
writer: liz werner
Giving his money and heart to help disadvantaged children around the world, Olympian Joey Cheek created an incredible ripple effect of generosity. |
It’s easy to think about what an average person accomplishes in 1 minute and 44 seconds. It may be enough time to brush your hair, wash your hands, butter your bread—but change the world for the better and become an inspiration for others? That would certainly take more time. Yet there is one man who changed the world in a combined total of 1 minute and 44.05 seconds. That man is American Olympic speed skater and newfound humanitarian Joey Cheek. At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Cheek won a gold medal in the 500-meter race with a time of 34.89 seconds, and he won a silver medal in the 1,000-meter race with a time of 1 minute 9.16 seconds. His impressive performances earned him two medals, a whirlwind of press and a $40,000 bonus from the US Olympic Committee. But more importantly, it gave him the opportunity to impact the lives of disadvantaged children around the globe.
Cheek turned his Olympic success into a humanitarian contribution by donating his entire bonus to Right to Play, an organization that uses sports to teach healthy living to children in disadvantaged areas around the world. He used the media to spotlight the work that Right to Play does and encouraged corporations, foundations and individuals to match his donation. As a result, Cheek inspired a ripple effect of donations, bringing the grand total to millions of dollars, and the number of children reached by these programs to the hundreds of thousands. |
joey cheek (right) with right to play founder and four-time olympic gold medalist in speed skating, johann koss. |
“Joey Cheek helped us launch Right to Play in the USA in a really big way. It’s remarkable how his philanthropy came at the right time.”
—Mary Dixon, Country Director, Right to Play, USA |
“Joey Cheek has emerged as an elite speed skater, but perhaps what distinguishes him most is his single-minded focus on giving something back. By giving his medal bonus earnings to Right to Play, he set a great example for others to follow. When you discuss it with him, his face lights up and you can feel his passion. As part of his Wheaties package appearance, Wheaties made a donation to Right to Play to support Joey’s efforts.”
—Greg Zimprich, Public Relations, General Mills |
Right to Play, based in Canada, has several international offices, yet their US office struggled to bring their work and message to a US audience. According to Mary Dixon, Country Director of the US office, Joey Cheek helped bring attention to Right to Play in the United States.
"I won my first medal in the 2002 Olympics, and that was a great experience. I felt personally satisfied, but it was like, 'that's it, that's all there is?' It was because of that experience that as I got closer to the [2006] Olympics I began to think about doing something more important than just skating in circles." Between the 2002 and 2006 Olympic Games, Cheek became acquainted with the mission and work of Right to Play and solidified a commitment to contribute to their cause. The snowball of donations that rolled in after Cheek's came from a wide variety of people and places: from Cheek's hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina to Fortune 500 companies, fellow Olympians, family foundations and children's piggy-bank savings. All donations were inspired in some way by Cheek and his single act of generosity. |
olympic speed skater joey cheek in washington, d.c., at a news conference about genocide in the darfur region of sudan. photo | chip somodevilla/getty images |
“We are moved by Mr. Cheek’s commitment to this worthy cause and encouraged by this type of leadership in philanthropy. It proves that one person can really make a difference.”
—Bobbi Silten, Chief Foundation Officer, Gap Inc. |
“He is a great guy who has done a great thing with his gift. Actually, I think it is a gift that truly changed the world. I think the response we had in Greensboro was representative of many people’s thoughts across the country and that is giving back to others is an American value and Joey’s simple act reminded everyone in the world of it. Americans have always been very generous and in Greensboro we pride ourselves on our charitable values. This was only confirmed by the amount of money raised locally in just 10 days.”
—H. Walker Sanders, President, Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, Inc. |
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