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FundPlay and Volo City: Making Sports Happen

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By LeagueApps
July 27, 2017
3 min

Everything we do is part of our goal to ensure that everyone everywhere has access to great sports experiences. To fulfill that mission, LeagueApps has launched FundPlay.

FundPlay is a LeagueApps initiative and the actionable manifestation of LeagueApps’ mission to “make sports happen.” The goal is to provide opportunities for memorable sports experiences to children who don’t have access to the best sports and educational resources.

There are three pillars to how FundPlay will affect positive change, one of which is through volunteer work by LeagueApps employees.

“Volunteering as a company makes employees feel more connected both to each other and to a mission,” Casey Miller, Director of LeagueApps’ Business Development department explained.

Having also co-founded a non-profit to create better corporate volunteering opportunities, Casey has a lot of expertise in the area and knows how impactful volunteering experiences can be for company culture.

Learn more about SuitUp, Casey’s initiative to help you with your company’s next volunteering event.

“Doing good to further our company’s mission engages us all in something bigger than our day-to-day and grounds us in a renewed appreciation for what we do.”

The first volunteering effort was with Volo City Kids, the philanthropic arm of one of our partners, NYC Social, in Harlem. NYC Social is one of the most influential and popular adult social leagues in the country.

Volo City Kids began in Baltimore in the Spring of 2015 as a passion project for Giovanni Marcantoni, CEO of NYC Social. It was created to remove the barriers to participation for those who need the opportunity the most by providing free, organized play within the community. As a Baltimore native, Gio knew first-hand that he could bring these same benefits he provides for the adults in his organization to the Baltimore youth community.

Read more on how you can get involved with Volo City Kids.

Their Harlem chapter opened earlier this year. To help kick off their first kids’ program, several LeagueApps employees volunteered their time to make sure everything went off as expected.

 

Check it out! Our first kids league in New York kicked off yesterday with basketball!? Can’t wait for next Tuesday! #volokidsCrew #nycvolunteer #basketball #freekidssports #volokidsrule

A post shared by VoloKidsNYC (@volokidsnyc) on

“Having [LeagueApps employees] locked in as volunteers to help kick it off made it possible,” said Volo City Kids Executive Director Nayla Bautista.  “Not having to worry about volunteers turn out enabled us to focus on the kids.”

It was fun for the LeagueApps team to get out of the office and brush up on their coaching and organizing skills.

“It was an awesome experience for me personally, as this was my first time coaching. It reminded me of how much of an impact great sports experiences as a kid can help shape us forever,” said Sales Consultant D.J. Silmon.

 

Friendly game of knockout while we work on our jumpshots w @volokidsnyc in Harlem! #corporatevolunteering

A post shared by Fundplay (@fund_play) on

“I absolutely loved the experience and would be more than interested in doing it again,” said Enterprise Business Development Representative Melanie Rose.

“I actually recommended this experience to one of my close friends in the industry who saw my Instagram posts and reached out to me about it. I think the NYC Social team has a great thing going with a lot of potential for growth and improvement, so I’d be excited to be a part of that.”

 

Our very own Mel trying to get her own @cavs team to get that W #fundplay #championshiprematch #cavsfanforlife #corporatevolunteering

A post shared by Fundplay (@fund_play) on

“We’re so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of what Gio, Nayla, and the entire Volo City team is doing,” LeagueApps CEO Brian Litvack said. “It’s rewarding for us to help contribute in any small way we can.”

Click here to get involved with FundPlay for the non-profit organization in your community.