United States Rugby Foundation Announces Annual Campaign Kickoff

San Diego, CA (December 8, 2005) – With an ambitious goal for 2006, the United States Rugby Foundation has announced the kickoff of its Annual Campaign.For over 40 years, the USRF has promoted and helped grow the sport of rugby in the United States by providing coaching and referee education grants, start-up kits and balls for youth and high school programs, collegiate student exchanges in New Zealand and the UK, funding of research grants for rugby injury studies, support to the National Collegiate and Under-19 teams and more.“We’ve orchestrated fundraising drives in the past through direct mail but this will be the first time we’ve been able to reach a large segment of the rugby community through an electronic campaign,” said USRF Executive Director Brian Vizard. “We’ve been inundated with grant requests since we started promoting our grant programs on our website and through our newsletters. It is the goal of the Foundation to fulfill all of the requests we receive.”The Foundation’s goal is to raise $25,000 through this inaugural Annual Fund Campaign to help defray the costs for some of its programs for 2006 which includes providing 1,000 balls and 100 start-up kits to youth and high schools clubs and programs, along with increased funding for its other existing programs. The USRF’s total investment for 2006 will be upwards of $100,000.To reach these goals, the Foundation relies primarily on the financial contributions of generous members of the rugby community. Tax-deductible contributions to the USRF Annual Campaign Fund can be made electronically or by check, made payable to the USRF and earmarked for the “USRF Annual Campaign.” Checks should be sent to:USRF2131 Pan American PlazaSan Diego, CA 92101The Annual Campaign ends on Friday, January 6, 2006.For more information about the United States Rugby Foundation, visit www.usrugbyfoundation.org.