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Infiniti Coaches’ Charity Challenge Winner Announced

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Infiniti Coaches' Charity Challenge

Every year during March Madness, Infiniti holds its Coaches’ Charity Challenge, where 48 NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball coaches duke it out to win fan votes in a four-round online bracket tournament. While it’s not quite the same as your typical March Madness bracket, this challenge does come with an excellent perk: the winning coach is given $100,000 by Infiniti to donate to the charity of his choice. This year’s winner, Matt Painter, coach of the Purdue Boilermakers, will donate the funds to the Smith Family BReaK Thru Fund—a charity which raises funds to help find a cure for Niemann-Pick Type C Disease (NPC).

NPC Disease is a genetic neurodegenerative disorder that causes the nervous system to degenerate progressively. The disease is fatal, and usually claims the lives of those who have it sometime in their teenage years. While there is no known cure as of yet, treatment is available to help relieve symptoms; but the Smith Family BReaK Thru Fund is dedicated to finding a cure for this debilitating disease in order to save the lives of children in the future. The Fund was established in 2008 by the Smith family in honor of their three children diagnosed with NPC Disease.

“We’re honored to continue our support of the Coaches’ Charity Challenge” commented Allyson Witherspoon, Director Marketing Communications and Media, Infiniti USA. “This program is a great way for us to raise awareness for charities that are important to college basketball coaches and provides an outlet for fans to show their spirit, while at the same time raising money for worthy causes. Coach Painter did a tremendous job to rally the Boilermakers’ fans during the extremely close competition. We’re proud to make this contribution to the Smith Family BReaK Thru Fund and hope it plays a small part in helping to find a cure.”

But the Coaches’ Charity Challenge isn’t the only way that Infiniti helps out worthy causes during March Madness. In addition, Infiniti will donate for each correct game pick fans make in Round by Round brackets, totaling up to $700,000, to Coaches vs. Cancer, which is a collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). Fans will also have a chance to win, with the top 10% of participants being entered into a drawing to win tickets and $500 towards travel to the 2016 NCAA Final Four game.

“We are delighted that Infiniti is supporting the American Cancer Society and our Coaches vs. Cancer program again this year through the Round by Round Brackets,” said Robert Youle, chair of the American Cancer Society Board of Directors. “Coaches vs. Cancer brings college basketball coaches nationwide together for a common cause: fighting cancer.”