PINCUS FAMILY FOUNDATION & LOVE.FÚTBOL TO BUILD SAFE SPORTS SPACES IN THE US, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC & MEXICO
NOVEMBER 1, 2018
PINCUS FAMILY FOUNDATION PROVIDES $1,135,000 GRANT TO LOVE.FÚTBOL IN PARTNERSHIP TO BUILD SAFE SPORT SPACES FOR VULNERABLE YOUTH IN THE UNITED STATES, MEXICO AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Investment allows award-winning nonprofit to bring its successful community engagement methodology to the United States for the first time
Philadelphia, PA/ Washington, DC – love.fútbol, an award winning non-profit focused on community development through sports, and the Pincus Family Foundation, a charitable institution dedicated to improving the quality of life for children living in underserved populations, have announced a new joint international partnership. The partnership is being made possible by a generous $1,135,000 grant from the Pincus Family Foundation that will transform underutilized outdoor spaces in five vulnerable communities, in three countries, into safe and sustainable sports spaces for local youth. The exciting new partnership comes at a time when studies are reporting that fewer children are reaching healthy levels of physical activity, particularly in lower income communities where there are fewer parks and access to safe places for physical activity.
"The Pincus Family Foundation is dedicated to the well-being of children around the world and improving their quality of life by addressing the challenges that children face worldwide. Our success in this mission is magnified by partnering with organizations like love.fútbol,” said Danielle Scott, Executive Director of the Pincus Family Foundation. “We believe that love.fútbol has mastered a methodology that taps into a universal desire ‘to save our children is to save ourselves and our future’. We look forward to what we imagine this initiative will bring to the children of Philadelphia, The Dominican Republic and Mexico."
The projects made possible by the Pincus Family Foundation are the latest in love.fútbol’s campaign to harness the “passion and power of the world's most popular game” – football (soccer) – to drive long-term youth and community development. The organization’s approach mobilizes and engages entire communities to plan, build, manage and redefine their own ‘pitches’, providing the residents with a strong sense of ownership over the projects which become self-sustaining hubs for active and healthy youth, educational programming and platforms for lasting social change.
“Our success is fueled by fostering an emotional connection between communities and their sports spaces. By focusing on local engagement, residents transform their pitches into platforms for lasting development, growth and social change,” said Drew Chafetz, Co-Founder and CEO of love.fútbol. “We are thankful to have a partner in the Pincus Family Foundation who has a history of supporting diverse approaches that provide children with opportunities for empowerment and success, and that strengthen communities in the process.”
Since 2006, love.fútbol has partnered with some of the biggest names in the sport, business and non-profit sectors, including ESPN, Unilever, Manchester City F.C., Under Armour and Beyond Sport to create safe spaces in rural and urban areas across Latin America, Asia and Africa, for nearly 70,000 children, youth and adults, to be active, to learn life skills and to build healthy habits and friendships. The two safe space projects in Philadelphia, where the Pincus Family Foundation is based, will be love.fútbol’s first in the US.
PRESS CONTACT
KAREN ASARE - [email protected] – 646-854-5535
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ABOUT LOVE.FÚTBOL
love.fútbol is a non-profit that mobilizes and engages communities to plan, build, manage, activate and redefine their football pitches as sustainable platforms for social change. It raises funds to finance raw materials, provide technical guidance and facilitate the execution of the project. Community members contribute with their talents, ideas, labor and other local resources, serving as partners and agents of change in the process. The average love.fútbol project depends on hundreds of local community volunteers contributing over 2,000 hours to each project. www.lovefutbol.org
ABOUT THE PINCUS FAMILY FOUNDATION
The Pincus Family Foundation was formed in 2005 by Philadelphia philanthropists David and Gerry Pincus who dedicated themselves to learning first-hand about the challenges children face worldwide, and then helping to address those challenges. The Pincus Family Foundation supports organizations and programs promoting children’s health, education, safety, nutrition, recreation and the arts locally and worldwide. www.pincusfamilyfoundation.org