Dodge City gets Mariah Grant for Shrine Bowl
By: Paul Lewis, Dodge City Sports Commission
The City of Dodge City is pleased to announce a $5,000 grant from the Mariah Fund to support the 2019 Shrine Bowl football game. In 2017, the City and Dodge City Sports Commission was selected from multiple applicants to host the 2019 game and week-long activities.
The Mariah Fund grant will be used to help meet event expenses. The Shrine Bowl includes a 1200 person banquet held at United Wireless Arena, a parade through downtown Dodge City, and the All-Star football game with over 5,000 spectators at Memorial Stadium. Other events include a golf tournament, 5K, One Mile Walk for Love, high school combine, junior all-star challenge cheer camp, and a band camp. “This is an event we’re pleased to support,” said Mariah Fund President and CEO Jeff Thorpe. “It reflects our mission to encourage collaborative efforts that enhance tourism and this event will bring several thousand visitors to the area over several days.”
The local host for the event is the Dodge City Sports Commission, a working group created under the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. The Sports Commission has been the host for other events including the KSHSAA State Basketball Tournaments, the Wild West Bowl 6 Man State Football Championship, the 2017 6A Girls State Golf Tournament, and the upcoming NAIA National Championship 1st Round Softball tournament. “The Shrine Bowl was an event, we and been pursuing and we’re pleased its now coming to Dodge City” said Paul Lewis, Chair of the Sports Committee.
The events are produced by the Kansas Shrine Bowl to bring attention to the state’s fine young talents, and to benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children. SHC is a health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing pediatric specialty care, innovative research, and outstanding teaching programs for medical professionals. Kansas children are treated in Shriners Hospitals for Children regardless of the child’s race, religion, nationality, creed, or relationship to a Shriner. Children up to the age of 18 are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-centered environment, regardless of the patients’ ability to pay.
The Mariah Fund is a 501(c)3 Private Foundation, formed to provide capital funding to non-profit organizations in Dodge City, Kansas and other communities in Western Kansas, for the purpose of enhancing regional tourism through both targeted and collaborative efforts.
