Helping Young New Yorkers Sail through the Pandemic

Three young girls wearing a wicker vest and sitting in the front of a hut

Source: Hudson River Community Sailing

It’s a particularly challenging time for young people in New York. Building on existing partnerships with each of the organizations, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) has made new grants to nine stellar nonprofits that use sports activities as a framework to support young New Yorkers as they grow and thrive.

In the able hands of these nine grantees, sports—some mainstream and others more niche—become tools for fostering personal growth, academic success, and holistic wellbeing. It’s squash at StreetSquash, figure skating at Figure Skating in Harlem, soccer at South Bronx United, basketball at New Heights, and baseball and softball at DREAM. New York Road Runners takes to the streets to facilitate fitness activities for young people, including those who use wheelchairs, while Rocking the Boat, Row New York, and Hudson River Community Sailing all take to the water for rowing and sailing.

The new grants are part of SNF’s ongoing $100 million global initiative to help provide relief from the effects of the pandemic.