The Cellcom Green Bay Marathon has selected Junior Achievement (JA) of Wisconsin, Brown County District as its new charity partner for 2011. Junior Achievement will join Cerebral Palsy, Inc. and Family Services as the recipients of funds raised by the 2011 Cellcom Green Bay Marathon, which will take place May 13-15, 2011.

The charities operate on three-year terms, with one new charity added each year and one exiting charity each year. Charity organizations become a strong member of the operational team made up of mostly volunteers to put on this event. Junior Achievement was selected from a group of 19 applicants.

“This is very exciting news for Junior Achievement. JA is in such high demand in the Greater Green Bay area that we currently have a waiting list of 52 classrooms,” said Laura Bilotti, Director of Junior Achievement of Wisconsin, Inc., Brown County District. “The partnership with the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon will allow JA to provide funding to these classrooms. We are very grateful for being selected and looking forwarding to our partnership.”

The Cellcom Green Bay Marathon aims to give back to the community while presenting a world-class event for people of all abilities and bring visitors to our communities. In selecting a charity, the idea is to support a community need and a charity partner that would be able to effectively utilize the marathon’s platform.

“Junior Achievement balances the mission of the marathon and presented a new way to give back to the children of the community,” said Brighid Riordan, president of the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon board of directors. “With so many budget cuts in the classroom, it’s great timing to partner with JA to provide additional funding for their many educational programs.”

Junior Achievement’s impact in Brown County is ever increasing. It has delivered age-appropriate programs to nearly 11,000 K-12 grade students in over 500 Brown County classrooms in 2009-2010.

“As the future becomes increasingly competitive for young students, so does the demand for Junior Achievement,” Bilotti said.

In 2010, the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon donated over $90,000 to the three charity partners. That amount has steadily increased over the 10-year history of the marathon.