NFR bull rider Garrett Smith is the driving force behind PinkChaps.com

REXBURG, Idaho – Garrett Smith has an incredible athletic talent, one that has placed him among the elite bull riders in ProRodeo.

That status has afforded him a powerful platform, one he’s using to give back to others. He finished the 2022 regular season No. 4 in the world standings and will compete in the sport’s premier championship, the National Finals Rodeo, for the fourth time in his career. That’s where he will showcase his talents and utilize his prominence.

“I came up with the idea for PinkChaps.com as a way to raise money and give it directly to the people that need the financial help they may not get otherwise,” said Smith, 27, of Rexburg. “These beautiful pink chaps were made by one of my traveling buddies, (fellow bull rider) Dalan Duncan, and they will be signed by the NFR contestants.

“I’m also going to wear the chaps during the NFR’s pink night (Monday, Dec. 5). We will raffle them off when we do the random drawing at one of the after parties at the Mirage later that week.”

All money raised through donations will go directly to individuals and families that have been involved in the fight against breast cancer. None of the funds will be used to cover administrative fees, nor will it go toward research or to pad accounts at any foundation.

“When someone is faced with breast cancer, there are a lot of costs that come with it that insurance doesn’t cover,” said Valorie Blanchard, Smith’s mother and a co-organizer of the event. “We want to be sure that the everyday bills that come along are covered. If Susie is undergoing chemo, we want to make sure her mortgage is paid.

“If Jennifer had to quit her job because of her illness, she may not be able to feed her family, so we want to do that. This is for those people that need to pay for gas to get to and from treatments. All the money we raise will go to them.”

To help cover the costs that come with the website and the promotional tools used, PinkChaps.com is also on the lookout for sponsors who want to be part of this project. By having sponsors cover those costs, that allows optimum funding to go straight to the people that need it most.

“We’re less than two months away from the NFR, so there isn’t a lot of time to get this to where we want it,” Smith said. “Every dollar that comes in will be a valuable part of the process. We just want to distribute as much as we can directly to the people that need it the most.”

PinkChaps.com is working closely with Chicks n Chaps, a Montana-based group that was founded by people whose lives have been impacted by breast cancer and also are passionate about rodeo and its heritage.

“When we looked around at other organizations that were raising money for breast cancer, Chicks n Chaps stood out to us,” Smith said. “Their goals and missions match with what we’re doing with PinkChaps.com.”

To become more involved with the project, log on to PinkChaps.com for more details.