Helping Kids Feel Like Winners
Long after the Super Bowl fun ends, at-risk children in the New York–New Jersey area can find a reason to cheer, thanks to the host committee’s youth foundation
For many of its students, the YCS George Washington School is a safe haven. But after Superstorm Sandy hit in 2012, the special education school in Hackensack, N.J.—serving atrisk children, the majority of whom have been removed from their homes for reasons including behavioral issues, abuse, and neglect—was in shambles.
“The Hackensack River overflowed and completely gutted the first floor,” says Richard Mingoia, president-CEO of the nonprofit YCS (Youth Consultation Service). For six months, the traumatized kids had to go to a nearby school because theirs was under two feet of dirty water and filled with mold.
Enter the NY/NJ Snowflake Youth Foundation, the charity arm of the NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee. The organization, which has raised millions from supporters (including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) to renovate more than 40 local facilities for kids, donated funds for a new computer lab and rebuilt the school’s gymnasium, where students play sports, stage theater productions, and attend after-school programs.
“The gym is really the heart of the school,” says Mingoia. “The renovation has helped give these kids a second chance at a normal childhood.”
Most football fans aren’t thinking about community service on Super Bowl Sunday. But using the game to draw support for a local effort is nothing new.
“Historically, the NFL has done a singular project in each Super Bowl city. Our region isn’t just one city, so doing just one project seemed totally inappropriate,” says host committee CEO Alfred F. Kelly Jr.
In fact, the Snowflake Youth Foundation is only one part of the committee’s plan. Over the past few months, it has organized a blood drive and a coat drive and planted 30,000 trees. “We wanted to use the platform of this great American game to make sure that we did well for the community,” says Kelly.
He sees some important takeaway lessons that can apply to any hometown looking to come together for a common cause. For starters, it helps to choose a cause that people can agree on—such as supporting youth—and the more people involved, the better. “On the grassroots level, we had 75 or so high school football teams wearing our Snowflake Youth Foundation decal on their helmets, and each player made a $5 to $10 contribution,” Kelly says. “Did that raise a lot of money? No, but it got players involved, and I think that building awareness is as important as getting big corporate gifts.”
Of course, not every city can host a Super Bowl, but there are still plenty of ways to help. “It could be the annual fair, a huge rivalry football game, or a marathon, where you’ve got a lot of people excited,” Kelly says. “Whenever a community has a big event that galvanizes a large percentage of the population, they ought to step back and think, ‘What else can we make happen?’ ”