Nike announced the latest round of grant recipients for Nike Community Impact Fund (NCIF), an innovative approach to local grant-making that fuels community organizations to get kids active as part of Made to Play. NCIF engages Nike employees and store athletes who help to select nonprofit organizations and schools in communities where they live and work. The Community Store in Detroit awarded $50,000 in grants to six local non-profits that focus on getting kids moving through play and sport so they can lead healthier, happier and more successful lives.
The Detroit Community Store joins community stores in Brooklyn, Chicago, East Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and New Orleans, that collectively have supported forty-five non-profit organizations and schools this year, in partnership with Charities Aid Foundation of America. This is the Detroit Community Store third round of grants supporting local organizations through NCIF. Since it first launched in 2010, NCIF has awarded 127 grants to nonprofit organizations in the six cities above which it expanded to in 2015, along with 424 in the Portland Metro region of Oregon, 9 in Memphis, and 83 in Europe.
“From the beginning, community has been at the core of Nike is and what we do. Our Nike Community Stores step up to the plate every day, and we’re proud to partner with nonprofit organization where these stores are located through the Nike Community Impact Fund,” said Caitlin Morris, general manager of Nike Community Impact. “Led by local employees, this innovative grant-making model and the resulting grants are important tools to both empower our teammates and ignite change by helping kids reach their greatest potential through sport and play.”
One of the six organizations chosen in Detroit is the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan (B&GCSM). For 92 years, the Clubs have offered youth 6-18 safe places to spend their out-of school time and mentored them to become responsible, self-reliant, caring adults through a variety of programming, including Triple Play. This multifaceted program promotes holistic health through four separate programs that work in tandem to get young people engaged in doing daily physical fitness activities, making healthier food choices and abstaining from risky behaviors. This year’s NCIF grant will be used to expand their Healthy Habits program which encourages young people to adopt a healthy diet by teaching them how to make healthier food and beverage choices.
“At Boys & Girls Clubs, we’re dedicated to cultivating a space where kids are safe and supported as they discover their talents and passions and grow into empowered adults,” said Shawn H. Wilson, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan. ” Triple Play helps our members combat childhood obesity and make healthier choices daily — from eating better to exercising and abstaining from things like smoking and drinking. We are thrilled to serve even more kids with Nike’s support.”
The other five organizations chosen to receive NCIF grants by the Detroit Community Store athletes are : Clark Park Coalition, Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program, Kids Kicking Cancer Inc., Special Olympics Michigan Inc., YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit.
The NCIF program awards nonprofit organizations that are empowering kids through sport and play in our Community Store neighborhoods within seven miles of the store. The program leverages the expertise of local store employees who review the applications and recommend the organizations to receive grants, using their local expertise and training on assessing the grant applications. NCIF grants are then administered by CAF America.
The Detroit Community Store’s next grant cycle will be announced in the Summer of 2019. To learn more about previous NCIF grantees, visit https://communityimpact.nike.
