New York City FC has announced the return of a global charitable initiative, which sees young leaders in cities around the world deliver football inspired projects to other young people as a sustainable force for social good.
The $600,000 commitment to this year’s Cityzens Giving campaign marks the second year of the charitable program and takes the total funding commitment in 2015 and 2016 – by City Football Group and its partners – to $1.5 million, funding nine community football projects worldwide.
This year, fans of all City Football Group’s family of Clubs – including Manchester City FC, New York City FC and Melbourne City FC – get to decide how projects are funded by voting for the cause that inspires them the most. The more votes a project gets, the more funding it will receive.
Cityzens Giving funds projects run by young leaders in Manchester, New York City, Melbourne, Kolkata, Cape Coast and São Paulo, along with projects from last year’s campaign in Kuala Lumpur, Cape Town and Barranquilla. These projects have been created to tackle issues like unemployment, social inclusion and HIV / AIDS.
The six projects selected for this year, each of which will be guaranteed enough funding to ensure they can run, will help at least 4,000 young people. They are:
New York City: Combining football with education about health and nutrition, for the second year, City in the Community Soccer Program will support 500 young people to improve their fitness and live healthier lives.
Manchester: Back for its second year, Boots & Beats will continue to use football and music to engage with 500 unemployed young people and connect them with job related training and volunteering opportunities.
Melbourne: Also returning to the campaign for its second year, I Speak Football will use football to connect 300 isolated young people and support them to make friends, build leadership skills and reduce loneliness.
Cape Coast: Debuting this year, Kicking for Change will act as a catalyst to get 500 able bodied and disabled young people back into education, giving them a brighter future.
São Paulo: Also debuting this year, Goal for Equality will empower female leaders to inspire 350 young people through mixed football leagues and education on gender issues.
Kolkata: Healthy Goals, another new project, mixes football with potentially life-saving education on health and hygiene, so that 2,000 young people have the power to stay safe and healthy.
City Football Group will also continue to fund projects in Cape Town, Barranquilla and Kuala Lumpur.
City CEO Ferran Soriano said: “Manchester City’s community commitment dates back to the founding of the Club over 130 years ago. Today, all City Football Group Clubs have strong community football programs in place.”
“We are excited to be putting our fans at the heart of this for the second year running, by letting them decide how we fund inspiring community football programs locally and worldwide”.
New York City FC captain, David Villa, met some of the 100 young leaders who will deliver the projects at a summit earlier this year.
He said: “We are proud of our Cityzen Giving young leaders. It is amazing to see how they are using football to make an impact in our local community and around the world.”
He added: “New York City FC is excited to give our fantastic fans the decision-making power. Like always, we want our fans to be at the center of everything we do as a Club.”
Brenda, 19, and the other young leaders from the New York City in the Community Soccer Program are using the city’s passion for soccer to encourage young people to be fitter and healthier.
She said: “Lots of kids I know eat the wrong food and spend too much time indoors. Using soccer, we will get them active and teach them about healthy eating. It inspires me to see young people getting fit, eating right and changing their lives.”
New York City FC has been delivering community work through the City in the Community foundation. Now, alongside City in the Community programs in Manchester and Melbourne, over 80,000 young people will benefit each year from City in the Community programs that will boost health, employability, inclusion and education.
For more information on the campaign and how City fans are getting involved, visit: www.cityzensgiving.org/newyork
