Fund for youths to follow dreams
Taranaki Foundation will help youth with their sports by supporting the Steelformers Youth Boost Fund.
Youth Boost, founded by Brendon Back and Brent Taylor, has gifted more than $30,000 in the past three years to help Taranaki youth with their goals.
Brendon says they have been inundated with individual requests for financial assistance by young people struggling to fund their trips to sports events, needing money to buy new equipment or pay for expert training.
“Youth Boost is a great way for us as a company to give back to the province and support 24 young people each year to follow their
dreams, while at the same time taking a little bit of the financial burden away from parents or guardians,” he says.
Every month, an average of 200 entries to the draw flood in from school-age people around Taranaki who need a cash boost to fund their participation or secure additional training in sport, music, artistic or academic pursuits. Two students are drawn out of the entries each month to receive $500 for their pursuits.
“The Steelformers Youth Boost has already helped over 60 young people in Taranaki with a wide range of activities,” says Brendon.
“Through the establishment of this fund, we are excited that we will be able to scale up the impact of Youth Boost to reach more deserving students across Taranaki.”
Taranaki Foundation chief executive Josh Hickford says it is delighted to be working with Taranaki Steelformers and the NP Partners Forum to amplify the profile, visibility and impact of Youth Boost.
“Our aim at Taranaki Foundation is to provide simple but tailored solutions to those that wish to create positive community benefit, now and in the future.
“It is a privilege to provide this service and continuity for Taranaki Steelformers and to support them in helping more of our young people reach their potential in the future.”