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Soccer Without Borders Maryland is honored to be selected as a recipient of a 2020 PLAY 60 grant from the Ravens Foundation, Inc. Each year the Ravens Foundation award PLAY 60 grants to select nonprofit organizations in the Baltimore area that focus on increased physical activity and nutrition awareness among local youth.
"We are so grateful to have the support of the Ravens Foundation for the upcoming school year" said SWB Maryland Director, Emily Sherman. "Now more than ever, it is so important to provide youth with opportunities to play and stay active. While "school" will be largely taking place on screens at home, we will continue to meet in small groups, running fitness activities and soccer skills at a safe distance. We know that our participants are excited to meet with their coaches and teammates during this challenging time."
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ravens Foundation spokesperson described the importance of how SWB and other 2020 grant recipients, "have demonstrated a comprehensive commitment to safeguarded programming." In accordance with this, SWB leadership and staff have maintained that safeguarding the environment for our participants is the most important component of SWB's COVID-19 response. "We have been able to run a successful and safe summer program by following city and county guidelines and restrictions, and combining input and additions from all SWB sites" said SWB Maryland Senior Program Coordinator, Kat Sipes. "Amongst many precautionary measures, including wearing masks, consistently washing hands, and taking their temperatures, we currently divide our participants into small groups–most of which comprise of 1-3 larger families and/or neighbors, to ensure less contact. It has been amazing being able to safely support our students, and with all the right pieces put together, we're confident in saying that we've provided a 5-week summer program to more than 200 youth with zero symptoms or cases!"
As SWB Maryland now prepares for fall season, this new funding from the Ravens Foundation will support programming for 100 middle school youth as they develop their English, soccer, and leadership skills.
Read the full Ravens Foundation announcement here>>