Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) announces $1.8 million in grants to support young New Yorkers through sports-based programs

NEW YORK, Oct. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To help support young New Yorkers through a particularly challenging time, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) has made grants totaling $1.8 million to nine stellar organizations that use sports activities as a framework to support them as they grow and thrive. The new grants are part of SNF's ongoing $100 million global initiative to help provide relief from the effects of the pandemic, but they build on more than a decade of support and on previous SNF grants to each organization.

In the able hands of these nine grantees, sports—some mainstream and others more niche—become tools for fostering personal growth, academic success, and holistic wellbeing. It's squash at StreetSquash, figure skating at Figure Skating in Harlem, soccer at South Bronx United, basketball at New Heights, and baseball and softball at DREAM. New York Road Runners takes to the streets to facilitate fitness activities for young people, including those who use wheelchairs, while Rocking the Boat, Row New York, and Hudson River Community Sailing all take to the water for rowing and sailing.

At each organization, the athletic activity at hand is the entry point to a rich variety of resources, from college admissions help to immigration legal services, and experiences, including participating in urban waterway restoration and building a wooden boat from scratch in the case of Rocking the Boat. Read more about the nine grants.

"These past seven months have been a trying time for so many of the youth and families that we serve, families who reside in neighborhoods that were among the hardest hit by COVID-19," said South Bronx United Executive Director Andrew So. "At South Bronx United, our team has put forth our best effort to first support them remotely and, now, also in the classroom and on the athletic field, but there is always much more work needed. We are incredibly grateful to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation for recognizing this need by including South Bronx United along with so many other amazing programs and organizations in its COVID-19 relief initiative. This grant will go such a long way towards bringing back and even expanding programs, services, and resources to the youth and families who need them."

"Each of these organizations approaches the critical work of guiding young people with originality and joy, making teamwork and athletic challenge a matrix for personal growth," said SNF Senior Program Officer Roula Siklas. "They have continued to carry out their missions in spite of all the obstacles the pandemic has created, and SNF is proud to support their important work."

About the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) is one of the world's leading private, international philanthropic organizations, making grants to nonprofit organizations in the areas of arts and culture, education, health and sports, and social welfare. SNF funds organizations and projects worldwide that aim to achieve a broad, lasting, and positive impact for society at large and exhibit strong leadership and sound management. The Foundation also supports projects that facilitate the formation of public-private partnerships as an effective means for serving public welfare.

Since 1996, the Foundation has committed more than $3.1 billion through more than 4,700 grants to nonprofit organizations in 132 nations around the world.

See more at SNF.org.

SOURCE Stavros Niarchos Foundation