6/29/2020
The Kevin Durant Charitable Foundation and Degree have teamed up to donate $1 million to 10 youth development organizations across the country. The funds are to support the organization’s ability to continue providing activities to keep kids active, moving and involved in positive sport programs. We were a selected recipient of a portion of the funds, along with 2 other New York City based organizations.
“The generosity of The Kevin Durant Charitable Foundation and Degree has been the bright spot for Kids in the Game over the past few months. As a New York City rooted organization, we have seen firsthand how this pandemic has directly impacted our kids and our families. Our focus over the past few months has been on our path forward, returning to the gym, field, and court so our kids can continue to develop through sport. This support not only makes that possible, but will allow us to come back stronger than ever.”
Tatum Boehnke, Director of Community and Impact, Kids in the Game
Low income families and neighborhoods have been hit the hardest by COVID-19 and the financial strain caused by the global pandemic is likely to continue well beyond the return to ‘normalcy’. The Kids in the Game Foundation has had a robust scholarship program for the past 4 years providing over $200,000 worth of financial aid to families needing program cost assistance. With the additional funding now available from the Durant/Degree donation, our foundation will be expanding their scholarship program offerings with two new initiatives.
The first will be the launch of “The Real MVP Fund” which will focus on providing assistance to single mothers and their families in New York City. We don’t believe that a single parent should have to choose between providing basic necessities for their children and providing opportunities for sport and enrichment activities. This fund will eliminate that choice by providing funds to support their child’s participation in after-school, sport and summer programs. Additional resources such as nutrition and financial literacy will also be made available to “The Real MVP Fund” awardees.
The second program that will be launched is “The Kids in the Game Foundation Continued Education Award” fund. For the past 3 years our foundation has offered academic and life skill support to our KING Hoops players. By providing these services, we recognize that support should not stop when high school ends. The post high school education scholarship fund will be established to support graduating student-athletes that have participated in any Kids in the Game program throughout their elementary or secondary educations. The award will support college, vocational, and/or trade school further education opportunities.
We plan to launch these two programs through our foundation later this summer to provide immediate positive impact to our families deeply affected by both COVID-19 and systemic injustices that are long overdue from being addressed.
If you want to join KD and support The Real MVPs, click the button below. Let’s #KeepMoving, together.
The Real MVP Fund