When Canadian Olympian medalists returned home from Sochi they were awarded a bonus from The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC); gold medalists received $20,000, silver medalists $15,000 and bronze medalists $10,000. In contrast, when the Canadian Paralympian medalists returned home they received NOTHING.
CBC News did an exposé on medal bonuses highlighting the stark contrast between Canadian Olympians & Paralympians titled, Paralympic Athletes Left Out of Medal Bonuses.
The COC, which is where the bonuses paid to Canadian Olympians comes from, is 98% funded by the private sector. Jane Almeida, COC spokesperson commented saying, "Funding provided to athletes and coaches that medal is from our corporate partners."
In addition, Almeida explained that the COC is a separate organization from the Paralympic Committee. Alison Korn, spokesperson for the Canadian Paralympic Committee advised that they are working towards providing medal bonus incentives for Paralympians, however, currently they do not have the necessary funding available.
According to this article, a Calgary based company has a solution! The company is called, DeliverGood and their company mission is to "build efficiencies into the charitable giving process by connecting charities and non-profits who need stuff with people and companies who have stuff."
Robb Price, creator of DeliverGood has established a fund to give small bonuses to Paralympic medalists and he is hoping others will follow his lead.
"These guys receive bonuses and these guys don't -- there is something wrong here. We started a fund on gofundme.com/WeAreEqual for everyone else. Hopefully some companies can step up and some individuals and increase these bonuses."
If you are interested in supporting this fund, please visit on gofundme.com/WeAreEqual and the Deliver Good website for more details http://www.delivergood.org/
*As of 2019, DeliverGood is no longer a company*
REFERENCES:
http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/news/story/1.2579221
http://www.delivergood.org/
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