Philanthropy
Cheek is the co-founder and president of Team Darfur, an international coalition of athletes committed to raising awareness about and bringing an end to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan.
At a press conference after the Olympic 500-meter race, Cheek said that he decided to donate his USOC gold medal bonus ($25,000) to Right to Play, an athlete-driven international humanitarian organization formed by former Olympic champion Johann Olav Koss of Norway. Cheek challenged others to make similar pledges to the organization. He subsequently donated his prize money from the 1,000-meter race ($15,000) to the same organization.
Since his donation others have joined in and over $390,000 has been contributed to this cause.
| Personal records | ||||
| Men's speed skating | ||||
| Distance | Time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 m | 34.66 | 2001-12-19 | Salt Lake City, Utah | |
| 1000 m | 1:07.29 | 2001-12-18 | Salt Lake City, Utah | |
| 1500 m | 1:44.98 | 2004-12-21 | Salt Lake City, Utah | |
| 3000 m | 3:54.76 | 1999-11-26 | Calgary, Canada | |
| 5000 m | 6:42.57 | 1999-11-28 | Calgary, Canada | |
| 10000 m | 14:13.81 | 2000-01-16 | Calgary, Canada | |
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Famous quotes containing the word philanthropy:
“... the hey-day of a woman’s life is on the shady side of fifty, when the vital forces heretofore expended in other ways are garnered in the brain, when their thoughts and sentiments flow out in broader channels, when philanthropy takes the place of family selfishness, and when from the depths of poverty and suffering the wail of humanity grows as pathetic to their ears as once was the cry of their own children.”
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)
“Almost every man we meet requires some civility,—requires to be humored; he has some fame, some talent, some whim of religion or philanthropy in his head that is not to be questioned, and which spoils all conversation with him. But a friend is a sane man who exercises not my ingenuity, but me.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I shall not be forward to think him mistaken in his method who quickest succeeds to liberate the slave. I speak for the slave when I say that I prefer the philanthropy of Captain Brown to that philanthropy which neither shoots me nor liberates me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)