THUNDER FUNDER KICKS-OFF WITH A BANG
2006-03-22T17:38:38Five-Star Viewing Tickets on LST Going Fast!
The McDonald’s Thunder Funder campaign to help raise funds for Thunder Over Louisville – the Kentucky Derby Festival’s Opening Ceremonies – gained momentum yesterday as supporters participated in the televised kick-off held at the Galt House Hotel. Derby Festival staff and board members, as well as KDF volunteers manned the phones and the internet from 5 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., taking orders for incentive packages at various levels. The campaign, sponsored this year by McDonald’s Restaurants of Kentuckiana, will last until March 31.
Said Kentucky Derby Festival President and CEO Mike Berry: “We are very grateful for everyone who called or logged on to help support Thunder Over Louisville. We received over $30,000 in contributions yesterday. That’s very encouraging and puts us well on our way to our goal of funding another quality Thunder. We still have some great individual and corporate sponsorship packages available.”
Individual sponsorship packages range from the $20 Igniter Level to the $150 Five Star Viewing Level, which includes access to a viewing deck tethered to a World War Two decommissioned landing ship moored at the waterfront. Five Star patrons will be able to tour the LST-325 vessel during the day and will have a prime viewing location for the Thunder Air Show and fireworks display. The Five-Star Viewing tickets are going fast with over one-third sold on the first day.
Patrons can participate in the McDonald’s Thunder Funder program through March 31st. For information on the Five Start Viewing Level and other Thunder sponsorship packages log on to www.mcdonaldsthunderfunder.org or call (502) 582-BOOM. Proceeds from the sale of Thunder incentive packages will be used to maintain the quality of the show.
McDonald’s Restaurants of Kentuckiana will continue their restaurant promotion through April 22nd. They will donate 10 cents from the sale of every 32-ounce drink in a commemorative cup to help support Thunder. Drinks may be purchased separately or as part of a Thunder Funder Meal (filet o’fish, French fries and large drink). Ninety-one McDonald’s restaurants in 19 Kentucky counties and six in Southern Indiana are participating in the promotion.
Thunder Over Louisville is one of the more than seventy events produced by the Derby Festival in the spring. The 2006 show is scheduled for Saturday, April 22, and will be the seventeenth annual production. The show is sponsored by Chase, Caesars Indiana, E.ON U.S. and UPS.
The Derby Festival is an independent community organization supported by 4,000 volunteers, 350 businesses and civic groups, Pegasus Pin sponsorships and event participation. It entertains more than 1.5 million people in a two-week period and has a local economic impact of more than $93 million. Thunder alone contributes $31 million of that estimate to both sides of the Ohio River.
