Super Bowl 50 gives back to the community

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) -- Super Bowl 50 is still nearly a year away, but already the host committee is making good on its promise to give back to the community.

Under the committee's “50 Fund” two grant programs have been setup to help local organizations close the opportunity gap for children and youth ages 0-24.

Already the “Game Changer” program has awarded organizations with $500,000 each to expand their services. A total of $2,500,000 has already been awarded.
 

• Oakland based, “First Place for Youth” works to help people ages 18-24 transition out of foster care and teaches them how to survive on their own. It plans to use its grant to help replicate its program in Santa Clara County.
• “Fresh Lifelines for Youth” aims to help youth offenders change the trajectory of their lives through mentorship and counseling. It plans to use its grant to expand outside of San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties.
• “Juma Ventures” started with San Francisco's Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop as a project with the Larkin Street Service. It was launched to provide employment and academic support to low-income youth so that they can be the first in their families to attend college. It plans to use its grant to launch new concession and vending opportunities at Spartan Stadium, Moscone Center and Avaya Stadium.
• “La Clinica de la Raza” was established in 1971 to provide with health care services in a linguistically and culturally appropriate manner for community members. The organization plans to use its Game Changer grant to double its school-based health care services.
• “Summer Search” helps produce new college graduates by offering individualized college access and financial aid counseling. It plans to use its grant to double the number of students it serves.

Two more rounds of grants are scheduled, with the next application period opening this summer.

The Super Bowl 50 host committee is announcing the recipients of its “Playmaker Grant Program.”
 

• Wishbone and its Executive Director, Beth Schmidt are the first 50 Fund Playmaker recipients, as announced on Tuesday. Wishbone is an organization that helps generate funding so that low income students can pursue their passions. The organization says it now plans to use its playmaker grant to send 20 low income high school students from the Bay Area to transformational summer programs. 
• Javier Ochoa Reyes of Groundwork Richmond in Richmond. Groundwork Richmond is focused on increasing the capacity of communities to improve and care for their local environment. Their Playmaker grant will be used for their S. 42nd Street Project, where they have developed a former empty brownfield and transformed it into a community park. The grant will support regular maintenance which means hands-on experience, job skill training and environmental education for the teenagers and youth adults in their programs. 
• Kelly Carlisle of Acta Non Verba, the youth urban farm project in Oakland, was awarded a playmaker grant. 
• Gino Pastori-Ng of Youth Impact Hub in East Oakland was awarded a playmaker grant. Youth Impact Hub has funded and launched more than 30 youth-led social enterprise projects and increased interest in entrepreneurship for over 300 under served youth. Their Playmaker grant will be used to fund their inaugural People's Pitch event which will showcase 9 teams of youth entrepreneurs presenting their own social enterprise proposals to a panel of community leaders. These fellows participate in a year-long social entrepreneurship training and co-working program where they learn how to develop a business plan and pitch for funding, and receive business mentorship.
• The 5th Playmaker is Julie Cates of ALearn in Santa Clara. ALearn delivers high-quality Math and College readiness programs to underserved youth living in Silicon Valley to encourage them to go to and succeed in college. Their Playmaker Grant will support their year-long Math Acceleration Program for approximately 900 middle-schoolers. Co-founder Julie Cates was nominated for work in creating the Math Acceleration Program, which has helped more than 5,000 children increase their proficiency in math and readiness for secondary education.
• The Playmaker is Eddy Zheng of the Community Youth Center in San Francisco, a nonprofit that works to support the needs of Asian youth and their families through education, employment training and advocacy. Eddy is a former San Quentin prisoner turned community activist who has a passion for helping at-risk youth and youth in the justice system. CYC will use its Playmaker grant to fund its first Bayview Historic Bus Tour, which is designed to educate residents - especially the monolingual Chinese speaking population - about the history of the Bayview and how that history has played an important role in the Bayview as it exists today to help break down barriers and promote tolerance in the community.
• The Playmaker is Susan Angell of the Sonoma Ecology Center, a nonprofit that offers educational workshops, and garden and Watershed Education camps for at-risk youth in Sonoma County. Susan founded the Children's Garden at the Sonoma Ecology Center, which provides children with hands-on learning and environmental education. The Sonoma Ecology Center will use its Playmaker grant to fund scholarships for low-income children to attendee science and garden camps this summer, as well as provide more tools to expand the Children's Garden. 
• The 9th Playmaker grant went to the California Alliance of African American Educators, a nonprofit focused on creating culturally conscious African American students who are life-long learners and critical thinkers. Their Playmaker Grant will help fund summer science camps for 3rd-12th grade underrepresented students from Santa Clara County and surrounding communities. The camps will focus on meteorology, sports engineering and bio mechanics , and the Internet of Things. They have recognized Program Director, Gloria Whitaker-Daniels, as their Playmaker, for her work in expanding CAAAE's year-long STEM programing to more students, doubling the Greene Scholars Programs over the past six years. Gloria leads this program as a volunteer; she is currently the lead of the new product development team at Amazon, and has more than 30 years of engineering and project management experience. 
• The 10th Playmaker grant went to the Global Girl Media, a nonprofit focused on developing the voice and media literacy of young women by teaching them to create and share digital journalism designed to improve scholastic achievement, ignite community activism and spark social change. Their Playmaker Grant will help fund its Oakland bureau which trains high-school girls ages 13-18 in new media journalism through a 4-week intensive training program and mentoring with Bay Area media professionals. They have recognized Co-Founder and Executive Director, Amie Williams as their Playmaker, who not only runs the day-to-day operations of their global organization but is also spearheading their newest news bureau in Oakland.  
• The 11th Playmaker is Oakland Public Education Fund and Brian Stanley - from the 50 Fund, the Host Committee's philanthropic arm. Oakland Public Education Fund is a nonprofit that serves the entire Oakland public school district and impacts more than 47,000 students and their families each year. Their Playmaker Grant will help the Oakland Educational Fund increase their community engagement activities over the next 90 days with programs that share stories of excellence and celebrate teachers who are working to create stronger public schools. They have recognized Executive Director Brian Stanley as their Playmaker, who has worked for many years to serve and support children and youth in the public school system.
• 12th Playmaker - Greenacre Homes & School of Sebastopol and Jesper Nordqvist - from the 50 Fund, the Host Committee’s philanthropic arm. Greenacre Homes & School provides residential, education and vocational training service for developmentally delayed and emotional disturbed males from ages 7 to 20, the majority of whom are coming from backgrounds of abuse and neglect. Greenacre provides a healthy and vibrant place for special needs boys to live, learn, recreate and grow, and ultimately, become contributing members of society. Greenacre Homes & School will use their Playmaker grant to support their Veggies and Vocations organic teaching garden that helps students learn construction skills, soil development, irrigation and plant selection, along with life skills through the sale of fresh produce and education on healthy diets and eating habits.
• The 13th Playmaker is Cope’s Family Resource Center in Napa County and Joelle Gallagher - from the 50 Fund, the Host Committee’s philanthropic arm. For more than 42 years, Cope worked to prevent and address the root causes of child abuse and neglect so that children have the opportunity to reach their greatest potential. Through case management, parent education, and safety net services, Cope works with thousands of Napa county families with histories of trauma, poverty, violence and/or substance abuse. Cope will use its Playmaker grant to build out and furnish its Childcare Room in their new facility, which will enable them to serve more at-risk children and families receiving support services. The Room had been damaged during the Napa Earthquake.
• The 14th Playmaker is FACES for the Future (FFSR) and Dr. Tomas Magana - from the 50 Fund, the Host Committee’s philanthropic arm. Based at St. Rose Hospital in Hayward, FFSR is an internship and leadership development program for high school juniors and seniors from Southern Alameda communities interested in health careers. While 82 percent of students served report financial struggle and 59 percent report surviving trauma, 100 percent of all FFSR students graduate from high school and 61 percent of them are the first in their families to do so. FFSR has recognized Dr. Magana as their Playmaker. A practicing pediatrician, he is the Director of the FFSR Coalition at the Public Health Institute and devotes himself to the helping vulnerable youth find a path while working to diversity the health workforce. FFSR will use its Playmaker grant to provide additional program experience to its 30 current students and purchase supplies for its FFSR Student Camp at California State University Easy Bay. 
• The 15th Playmaker is the Boys & Girls Club of the Coastside in Half Moon Bay and Julio Serrano - from the 50 Fund, the Host Committee’s philanthropic arm. The Boys & Girls Club of the Coastside services Moonridge, an affordable housing development in Half Moon Bay primarily consisting of migrant and low-income families. The Boys & Girls Club of the Coastside will use its Playmaker grant to benefit the youth who live within Moonridge, providing them with access to recreational activities.
• The 17th Playmaker is the East Bay College Fund and Andrew Wilson - from the 50 Fund, the Host Committee’s philanthropic arm. The East Bay College helps resilient public school students, under-represented in higher education, gain access to and succeed in college by providing college access services, mentoring, scholarships and support networks. They will use their Playmaker grant to provide supports to low-income, first-generation students to begin their college path at the community college level. B&G Club has recognized Andrew Wilson, also an alumni of the East Bay College Fund, who serves as a college advisor at Oakland Technical High School, for his work with first-generation students in the African American Male Achievement Initiative in preparing for college and careers.