Lance Armstrong's Charity Sees Staggering $78,000 Increase Day After Cyclist Banned From Sport

Lance Armstrong’s Charity Sees Staggering $78,000 Increase Day After Cyclist Banned From Sport

by Luke Hughes on Sat, Aug 25, 2012 at 12:05AM

Lance Armstrong may have had his name and cycling career discredited Thursday night with further charges of performance-enhancing drug use, but his supporters are apparently still standing strong.

Armstrong, who abandoned his lawsuit against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency on Thursday, was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and immediately banned from the sport of competitive cycling. But while the cyclist had his resume eliminated and his name dragged through the mud, the charity that bears his namesake saw a hefty boost on Friday, according to ESPN's Darren Rovell.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation, founded in 1997 to help empower cancer survivors, actually saw increases in donations to the organization just a day after Armstrong's accolades were taken away.

Unsolicited donations were up 25 times their normal haul Friday, according to foundation CEO Doug Ulman. On Thursday the foundation brought in a pretty standard $3,200, but Friday's load alone was all the way up to $78,000.

The foundation also saw its number of daily donors blow up. Compared to the 45 donors Thursday, 411 people contributed to the foundation the very next day.

Merchandise sales for Armstrong's gear also saw a pretty hefty increase, going from $4,000 to nearly $11,000 on the day. That could have well been supported by primary sponsor NIKE's statement backing the longtime athlete.

So while Armstrong will continue to be lumped in with PED users from other sports, the Barry Bonds, Mark McGwires and such, it appears his long-standing foundation will hold strong and persist through this tough patch. Heck, it may even continue to grow at an alarming rate.

Photo via Facebook/Lance Armstrong