2023 – IRI Charities
We will once again be supporting a number of charities for the 2023 IRI silent auction. Details will be available soon
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2017 – IRI Charities
Riley Children’s Hospital
Kokomo Humane Society – Building Fund
Lawrence Township Foundation
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2016 – IRI CHARITIES
For 2016, the IRI will be collecting backpacks to support a local elementary school.
The 2016 IRI will also feature a Charity Auction, with the proceeds shared between three local charities, one selected by each host team. Check back for information on the charities selected for 2016.
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2015 – UPDATE:
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2014 – UPDATE:
Thank you to all the teams who supported this for 2014. We collected 150 filled backpacks, bringing our total to 1115 since this began. The backpacks have been delivered to Rolls-Royce and will be distributed soon!
In addition, you all donated over $6500 through the charity auction. The IRI “rounded this up” and will make the total donation $7000 – $4500 to Riley Children’s Hospital through the Purdue Dance Marathon and $2500 to CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children) of Howard County.
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Besides being a top-notch event for FIRST Robotics Competition teams, IRI is an event that raises funds for local charities. Since 2004, IRI has raised money for various charities, provided many scholarships to students, and given away an impressive number of supply-filled backpacks for Indianapolis-area kids.
The charities selected for the 2014 IRI are Riley Children’s Hospital and CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Howard County.
Over the past 10 years, the total outreach and assistance provided by the competitors, volunteers, and organizers of IRI has been tremendous. Here is a summary of this outreach:
- $77,500 of scholarships have been awarded to 50 students
- Over 1000 supply-filled backpacks (worth over $25,000) have been donated to needy Indianapolis kids
- $35,000 has been raised through the silent auction and other events for 9 local charity organizations
Also again this year, all attending teams will be donating a well-filled backpack to provide to the Rolls-Royce sponsored “Pack to School” program to assist the Indianapolis community. This has been done at IRI since 2003. For some reason, the number of more backpacks donated is always greater than the number of teams attending. Items should be for a 2nd / 3rd-grade level student. Feel free to add a team button or other special item to a backpack. Below is a list of suggested items for this donation.
- Backpacks
Pencils
Notebooks
Folders
Crayons
Pencil boxes
Colored pencils
Highlighters
Pens
Pencil sharpeners
Scissors
Glue sticks
Ruler with inches and centimeters
Erasers
Loose-leaf paper
Washable markers
Tissues