City in the Community, the foundation proudly supported by New York City Football Club (NYCFC), was today joined by players from NYCFC’s First Team to give back to the Bronx community through a product donation day. Alongside volunteers made up of Midea employees and NYCFC’s Front Office, CITC and the players delivered over $125,000 of donated Midea home appliances to a local shelter in The Bronx. Appliances donated to the shelter include:
- Portable air conditioners
- Bladeless fans
- Mini refrigerators
- Microwaves
- Dehumidifiers
“I’d like to thank Midea for their continued support as we build on our great work together for a second year,” said Paul Jeffries, CITC Executive Director. “Giving back to our local communities is foundational to both our missions, and I’m incredibly proud City in the Community is a part of today’s product donation. To have our players and employees from across CITC, NYCFC and Midea is a demonstration of our commitment to supporting our local communities and what our organizations are all about.”
“We are excited to continue supporting CITC for the second year as a proactive partner in helping the community,” said Kurt Jovais, president of Midea America Corp. “At Midea, we are committed to providing surprisingly friendly solutions that enable our consumers to feel at home. We are equally committed to identifying where we can help get our products into the hands of those who need them the most and can benefit from our appliances bringing positive change to their living environment.”
As CITC’s largest corporate donor, Midea donated the appliances to CITC, which facilitated today’s volunteer day. The donated Midea products will provide an important upgrade to the shelter and help improve residents’ quality of lives, helping them to feel more at home. The portable air conditioners will also provide the shelter with air conditioning for the first time ever, an essential component for keeping the residents comfortable. Following today’s product donation, CITC will continue working with the shelter, providing families in the shelter with information and assistance in signing up their children for CITC’s free soccer programming in The Bronx.
“We are incredibly grateful for this generous donation of home appliances from CITC, NYCFC and Midea. These appliances will provide significant benefits to some of the City’s most vulnerable residents as we enter the hottest part of the summer,” said Department of Social Services Commissioner Molly Wasow Park. “It is our top priority to keep our clients, safe, healthy and comfortable and we appreciate the continued support we have received from CITC, NYCFC and Midea to bolster these efforts.”
Today’s donations and volunteer day is the latest in CITC's and Midea’s shared commitment to give back to its local communities and builds off a similar initiative from last year in which Midea and NYCFC employees provided a helping hand, delivering over $100,000 worth of appliances to two South Bronx area shelters. The donation included a variety of air purifiers and dehumidifiers to reduce humidity and standing fans to increase indoor air circulation.
Last year, NYCFC and Midea also launched the inaugural City in the Community Play It Forward Holiday Cup, a fundraising soccer tournament to support free soccer programming for homeless youth in New York City. Through the event, the organizations raised money to purchase cold-weather gear that was donated to additional homeless shelters during the winter months.
To date, Midea and NYCFC’s partnership has seen CITC provide leadership and workforce development training to more than 70 youth aged 16-24 who are currently in the shelter system, giving them the skills, confidence and paid job opportunities to deliver community soccer programs to younger kids in the community.
