For the second consecutive year, Up2Us Sports has received funding from Serve Washington, Washington’s state service commission. For the 2020-2021 year, the $151,000 grant will support 18 Up2Us Sports coaches around the state of Washington with emphasis on economically vulnerable communities in King and Pierce counties.
These national service members will be responsible for 800 young people served in a variety of athletic and holistic educational development activities that are designed to improve physical fitness and social dexterity, with the ultimate goal of leveraging these improvements to better themselves and their community.
Since 2019, Serve Washington has provided grants for 10 service members, who have served 2,398 youth throughout the state of Washington.
“The partnership between Serve Washington and Up2Us Sports and our eight local community partners provides a meaningful opportunity for caring adult mentors to serve their country and community and make a difference in the lives of young people,” says Hillery Gladden, National Director, Up2Us Coach. “Sports-based youth development is vital to the health and growth of youth in Washington especially during the era of COVID-19 and in the light of the current social justice movement.”
Serve Washington advances national service, volunteerism and civic engagement to improve lives; expands opportunity to meet the local critical needs of residents of Washington; and strengthens community capacity while creating healthy and resilient communities. For more information, visit servewashington.wa.gov.
This funding is provided by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency for volunteering, civic engagement, and national service programs like AmeriCorps. For over 25 years, more than 1 million dedicated Americans have joined AmeriCorps and pledged to ‘get things done.’ This year, the 75,000 AmeriCorps members serving in schools, nonprofits, community and faith-based organizations, will do the same as they rebuild communities, support veterans, fight the opioid epidemic, prepare students for success, foster economic opportunity, and more. Those interested in serving can learn more at AmeriCorps.gov/Join.
We are currently actively recruiting coaches and host sites nationwide. If you are interested in becoming a coach-mentor or hosting a coach in your community, please contact hgladden@up2ussports.org or rbrown@up2ussports.org.
