Orlando City News Release -- www.orlandocitysoccer.com
Monday, January 6, 2014
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando City Foundation (OCF) announced Monday the backing of three local non-profits for the 2014 season, further entrenching the club into the Central Florida community. The non-profits include the Parramore Kidz Zone, Howard Phillips Center-Healthy Families Orange and Fifth Third Bank’s Summer of Dreams.
OCF is committed to supporting charities that improve the lives of children in our Central Florida community, with the non-profits chosen by the Foundation exemplifying just that. OCF will provide support from multiple aspects, including general assistance to monetary donations.
The mission of Parramore Kidz Zone (PKZ) is to equip Parramore’s children to become successful, healthy, well-educated adults. PKZ aims to reduce juvenile crime, teen pregnancy, and high school drop-out rates. PKZ is achieving this by investing in early childhood education, after school programs, youth development for teenagers, access to health care, mentoring and more.
“Partnership with the Orlando City Foundation benefits PKZ because of the time, talent and treasure that Orlando City invests in the future of Parramore’s children,” said PKZ representative Lisa Early. “Orlando City has made financial contributions to our organization, which has helped cover the cost of tutoring, school supplies and college scholarships for children in the neighborhood.”
The Parramore region is one that the Foundation and Orlando City SC has invested in, including the recent opening of the new freezers at the local Sunlife Grocery Store. Thanks to a strong community effort, the refrigerator and freezer makes fresh fruit and frozen produce available for residents, something that was unobtainable beforehand.
The Summer of Dreams program was founded to help those children who would otherwise “fall through the cracks.” The free, 10-week program for homeless students in Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties provide resources to bridge the gap during Summer break. The Summer of Dreams has reached a total of 2,281 homeless children since starting in 2011.
“From the beginning, our partnership has been beneficial for Fifth Third Bank and Orlando City in many ways,” said Fifth Third Bank Senior Vice President of Marketing Kim Praniewicz. “Orlando City strongly supports Fifth Third Bank’s Summer of Dreams, helping to break the cycle of child homelessness in Central Florida. We are excited about our continued partnership and MLS in Orlando.”
Based on the nation’s foremost model for child abuse prevention, Healthy Families America, Healthy Families Orange is a program that prevents child abuse and neglect, increases the rate of childhood immunizations, reduces family stress levels and more in Orange County. The Healthy Families Orange staff work with parents from the day their baby is born until the child is five years old, facilitating parent-infant bonding, positive parent-child interaction and child health and development.
“We are so appreciative of Orlando City’s support of the Healthy Families Orange program,” said Howard Phillips Center for Children and Families Operations Manager Marie Martinez. “This evidence-based program has a solid track record of preventing child abuse and helping local families become self-sufficient. By investing in child abuse prevention, Orlando City is investing in the future our community in a very powerful and impactful way.”
Outside of the support for the three non-profits, the Foundation also offers grants ranging from $500 to $1,000 which can be applied for by organizations seeking to further the sport of soccer, bringing programs to under-served areas of Central Florida. The most recent recipient of this grant was the Engelwood Neighborhood Center, with the funds helping start the Center’s first-ever soccer program for children ages 4-6.
The Orlando City Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization that believes in using the sport of soccer and the powerful influence of the Orlando City organization to promote exercise and healthy eating to the children and families in our community.
For more on these organizations and the OCF, please visit orlandocityfoundation.org.