Since 1992, Jays Care Foundation (JCF) has been empowering children and youth in need, inspiring them to make positive choices and helping them realize their dreams by providing access to programs that support physical activity, education, and life-skills development.
JCF has been an enthusiastic kids.now funder since 2007, contributing both financial and promotional support. “The Jays Care Foundation partnership with kids.now has helped us achieve our shared mandate to provide opportunities that empower kids, inspire them to make positive choices, and help them realize their full potential” says Danielle Silverstein, Executive Director of JCF.
In 2009, Jays Care Foundation made a generous contribution to the kids.now Power of 10 Project, a challenge to corporate Canada to help create 100 new kids.now programs in honour of our 10th year. Jays Care Foundation’s $50,000 contribution to this project resulted in the development of 10 new programs located in nine Toronto communities designated by the United Way as ‘priority’ neighbourhoods. “Jays Care Foundation exists to create opportunities for children and youth in need, one way we have done that is by supporting kids.now in developing and maintaining youth programming in underserved, or otherwise disadvantaged communities,” says Silverstein.
Silverstein also credits the fact that kids.now programs are available free of charge to youth, and the program methodology (especially the 10:1 student-mentor ratio), as factors that attracted Jays Care Foundation to the kids.now program. “Peers are very influential” Silverstein notes, “so opportunities for youth to learn from each other in a small group, supported by a caring mentor is a good model for helping kids build life skills that will better prepare them for high school and beyond.”
Jays Care Foundation supports a number of other charities focused on serving children and youth. Funds raised by Jays Care Foundation are committed to initiatives and programs that improve the lives of kids in the Greater Toronto Area and beyond, including: encouraging kids to get physically active through youth baseball initiatives; providing grants to local charities serving children in need; funding capital projects that create safe youth spaces where kids can play, learn, and grow; and partnering to provide important educational opportunities for at-risk youth. For more information about Jays Care Foundation, visit bluejays.com/jayscare.