INTRODUCED IN 2013

Many of you that have been involved in SportsLink for awhile know that we donate to or work with several local charities to raise funds (or help them recruit volunteers for special events).  Some of our favorites are Hands On Charlotte, Habitat for Humanity, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and helping disadvantaged youth from some of the communities (and community centers) in which we play.

We also try to improve the facilities that we play in.  We’ve built volleyball courts, cleaned up parks, planted grass and/or dropped sand on fields to level them, etc…

WHAT WE DO WITH YOUR +10

We did a lot for the local community with your help!

• Sponsored disadvantaged youth to go snow skiing for the first time EVER
• Purchased a digital camera for a rec center to teach kids how to do photography
• Donated tons of sports equipment to disadvantaged youth programs
• Raised or donated over $100,000 cash to Habitat for Humanity, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, & Hands on Charlotte
• Sponsored a van load of disadvantaged kids to see their first hockey game
• Helped multiple organizations run cornhole tournament fundraisers
• Donated a portion of New Years Eve ticket sales to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
• Adopted a portion of the Greenway
• Cleaned up and helped maintain part of Renaissance Park (volleyball area)
• Held Volleyball tournaments and races where we collected over 100 gifts/yearly for Toys for Tots and a Christmas party at one of the Rec Centers
• Collected food/toys at our annual Christmas Party
• Donated gift certificates and Checkers to multiple fundraising events including CFF, Beards Because, and the Humane Society.
• Adopted a family at Christmas
• And much more…

10+ DETAILS

Beginning in 2013, we added $10 to all of our SportsLink team fees.  We know it’s always an inconvenience to pay more for anything, but we think you’ll find the extra fifty cents to a couple dollars you may find yourself paying extra a season (depending on how many players on a team) well worth it.  Based on our normal number of teams, we think this will raise between $30-40,000.

With the funds, we plan to do three things (using approximately 1/3 of the funds for each category):

1. Help improve the public parks and facilities we use for our programs (this will be projects like improving lighting, aerating fields, improving drainage, upgrading old equipment, etc…).
2. Continue to donate and raise funds for local charities, particularly those that have a broad impact on the community or are related to athletics
3. Sponsor disadvantaged youth to participate in active and/or athletic programs.

We’ll post updates and progress reports here and via periodic e-mails so you’ll know how you’re helping make the community (and to some extent, your playing experience) better!

Our longer term goal is to create a foundation to help improve the community.  They are a little complex and expensive to start, but we’ll give you progress reports as we continue this process as well.