Youngstown, Ohio-This past summer, the Hope Foundation of the Mahoning Valley approved and appointed Caroline Ritenour, a local advocate to the Board of Trustees for a one year term through 2019, starting July 1.
Caroline Ritenour was the founder of Piranha Aquatics in Salem, Ohio where she was the head coach for ten years. During her tenure she not only founded the organization, but led the organization to becoming a 501c3 and was the executive director for 3.5 years after the transition. In 2014, she helped the club secure grant funding through Autism Speaks, which led to the launch of the Piranha PALS program, which provided free private lessons for persons on the Autism Spectrum to learn to swim and launching PALS Family swims, which allowed families with Autism a sensory-friendly environment to bring their children to the pool. Additionally during her tenure she developed several successful swim invitationals including a High school invitational called the New Year Classic, which brought over 200 athletes to the Mahoning Valley every January to compete.
Caroline Ritenour is currently transitioning from Piranha Aquatics to launching a new company that is focusing on teaching special needs children in the Valley how to swim. Caroline and her husband have also recently launched a meal-prep service that delivers healthy, gluten and soy-free meals to people’s homes every Sunday. Caroline is a 2017 American Swim Coach Association Fellow as well as a member of the facilitators team for the Caring for Birthmother’s post-placement program at Caring for Kids in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. She was the Diversity and Inclusion Chair for Lake Erie Swimming from 2014-2018 as well as a 2015 graduate of the Youngstown SBA’s Emerging Leaders program. Caroline has B.S. in Education from Baldwin-Wallace College. Outside of swimming Caroline loves to crossfit, read, and play the piano.
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The Hope Foundation of the Mahoning Valley: Since 2007, our nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization has coordinated the efforts of volunteers, funding, sponsorship partners, and a dedicated board of trustees to raise more than tens of thousands of dollars to help area children who are battling chronic and terminal illnesses. We provide charitable and financial support to local families to help of improve the lives of chronically/terminally ill children and their families with money raised from donations and our signature fundraisers. For more information about The Hope Foundation please visit the website at HopeMV.org.
