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Corporate Social Responsibility
News
5.27.2004 ET
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CSR News from:
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NikeGO and the United States Soccer Foundation Award Eight $100,000 Grants to Communities Dedicated to Getting Kids Active Through the Game of Soccer
Part of Five-Year, $5 Million Commitment to Donate 50 FieldTurf(tm) Soccer
Fields to Communities Across the U.S.
(CSRwire) WASHINGTON, DC - NikeGO and the U.S. Soccer Foundation today
announced awards of eight $100,000 grants to be used towards world-class
FieldTurf soccer fields to eight communities in the United States. The
announcement represents year two of a five-year, $5 million partnership
between NikeGO and the U.S. Soccer Foundation to promote the sport of
soccer across the U.S. by awarding 50 communities with grants to be used
towards the installation of FieldTurf soccer fields. NikeGO is Nike's
signature U.S. community affairs initiative and the company's long-term
commitment to getting kids more physically active.
The following organizations and communities will receive $100,000 grants:
Aloha Community Improvement Project; Beaverton, Oregon
Century United; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
City of Sterling Heights; Sterling Heights, Michigan
Hudson River Park; New York, New York
Seacoast United; Hampton, New Hampshire
Striker Park; Richmond, Virginia
St. Louis Youth Soccer Association; St. Louis, Missouri
West-United Soccer Association; Limerick, Pennsylvania
"There remains a constant and critical need for adequate playing fields
for soccer players of all levels," says U.S. Soccer Foundation's Interim
Executive Director John Koskinen. "We're proud of our partnership with
Nike and our combined commitment to this program, which brings the highest
quality fields and equipment within reach to communities across the
U.S."
The NikeGO and U.S. Soccer Foundation partnership provides communities,
leagues, clubs, or groups an avenue to apply directly to the U.S. Soccer
Foundation for financial grant assistance or to purchase outright a
FieldTurf synthetic soccer field package. FieldTurf is a revolutionary
synthetic turf that duplicates the playing conditions of real grass-it
looks like grass, feels like grass and plays like natural grass. Grantees
will also have access to material and support from industry leaders Nike,
Kwik Goal (www.kwikgoal.com) Musco Sports Lighting
(www.musco.com) and TGI
Signage Systems (www.tgiworldwide.com/profile/index.asp)
through the program.
FieldTurf and Nike have worked together for six years to produce
top-quality soccer and multi-purpose sports fields using Nike Grind, a
material comprised of recycled athletic shoe material from Nike's
Reuse-A-Shoe program. Reuse-A-Shoe, an integral part of NikeGO, is a
program that collects, slices, and grinds up defective and post-consumer
athletic shoes as well as byproducts from the manufacturing of new Nike
outsoles to make Nike Grind material, which is then used in a variety of
sports and play surfaces. FieldTurf uses Nike Grind material from the
byproducts of manufacturing of new Nike outsoles exclusively. Since its
inception in 1993, Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe program has recycled more than 15
million pairs of shoes, and has donated more than 150 athletic courts,
tracks, fields and playground surfaces in communities around the world to
get kids active.
"We are honored to have the U.S. Soccer Foundation as a partner with
NikeGO, and with this partnership it's our goal to bring the joy of
physical activity to young athletes of all abilities through the power of
soccer," said Joe Elsmore, Nike's Director of U.S. Soccer Sports
Marketing.
United States Soccer Foundation:
The U.S. Soccer Foundation is the development and philanthropic arm of
soccer in the United States. It was established in 1994 to administer the
profits from the phenomenally successful 1994 FIFA World Cup. Since that
time it has managed to provide enormous benefit to soccer at all levels
while at the same time maintaining a wise investment policy that has
protected 100% of the original corpus. Over its first ten years, the U.S.
Soccer Foundation has made more than $35,000,000 worth of financial support
available to the game and continues its innovative approach to gaining
support from private, public and government sectors. It is an activist
organization, working wherever possible to expand soccer's reach and to
implant it even more firmly in American communities. For more information,
visit www.ussoccerfoundation.org.
NikeGO:
NikeGO is Nike's signature U.S. community affairs initiative and the
company's long-term commitment to getting kids more physically active. The
program's mission is to increase physical activity in youth ages 8-15,
offering them the support and motivation to become physically active, stay
healthy and have fun. Nike committed more than $10 million last year in
cash and products to get kids moving. For more information, visit www.nikego.com.
NIKE, Inc., based in Beaverton, Oregon, is the world's leading
designer and marketer of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment
and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities.
Wholly owned Nike subsidiaries include Bauer NIKE Hockey Inc., the world's
leading manufacturer of hockey equipment; Cole Haan*, which markets a line
of high-quality men's and women's footwear, accessories and outerwear, and
Hurley International LLC, which markets action sports and teen lifestyle
apparel.
FieldTurf:
FieldTurf is a privately held company that holds worldwide patents on its
products and methods of installation. FieldTurf also offers a full range
of golf, landscaping and playground artificial grass solutions. For more
information, visit www.FieldTurf.com or call (800)
724-2969.
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