On Monday, June 29, Up2Us Sports officially welcomed 180 Summer VISTAs to the 2020 Up2Us Sports Summer VISTA Program. 180 VISTAs started their nine-week service term at 100 nonprofit organizations nationwide. Their term will end on Friday, August 28th.

15 of the 180 VISTAs have been serving internally at Up2Us Sports in various capacities. We are excited to have this group of ambitious service members help our team across the nation, which will in turn help us better serve our 1,700+ member organizations, 470+ host sites and 250+ coaches in the days and months ahead.

We wanted you to get to know the 15 VISTAs who have spent their summer helping grow the capacity of Up2Us Sports from within.

Name: Benjamin Gonzalez

Age: 26

What city are you located in?
Moreno Valley, California

What department within Up2Us Sports are you serving in?
Summer VISTA Cohort Leader

What led you to want to do a service term, particularly right now?
I had my service term end prematurely with Peace Corps, and I wanted to find other opportunity for service.

What does national service mean to you?
To me national service means meeting our community needs.

What is one thing you hope to take away from your 9 weeks of service?
I want to have first-hand experience working with a non-profit.

Did you play sports and did It have an impact on why you decided to serve at a youth sports organization?
I have worked at swim camps and taught dance classes for youth. I believe youth sports is super beneficial to youth and wanted to help support programs.