The announcement was made Saturday night in Sommerville, Texas, where Youth Sports Alliance Executive Director Emily Fisher attended the Destination Defender weekend. YSA had been selected as one of the top five finalists and the winner was decided by public vote that took place over three weeks.
“And from there, they narrowed it down to two in all six categories. Those finalists were brought to Destination Defenders. Land Rover paid for one person from each organization to come to Somerville, Texas, and they had a whole weekend of events and then last (Saturday) night, they presented the winners in the six different categories. And we were announced as the winner in the outdoor accessibility and education category. So just super exciting, overwhelming, heartwarming. All the things.”
While the number of votes won’t be released, Fisher says she’s grateful for all of them.
“Just so grateful and appreciative to the community,” she said. “So many people stepped up and voted day after day. And it's just, it's incredible to feel all the support from the community here in Park City, the Wasatch Back and really across the country.”
The other semi-finalist in the Outdoor Accessibility category was the Vermont Adaptive Sports organization out of Killington. Fisher says while they didn’t win a car, they did walk away with $16,000 in prize money.
YSA won’t receive the new Defender 130 vehicle until later this winter.
“We will now work with Land Rover to customize the vehicle and the wrap and things like that,” she said. “And then I think in February, I think there's another weekend where you go and you learn all about your vehicle and all the different features and then it will be shipped to a local dealership and we will pick it up there.”
In addition to the new car, YSA also won $25,000 on top of the $7,500 it received as a semi-finalist. Fisher says all of the prize money will go into the general fund to run operations and subsidize transportation.
