Nashville SC Community Fund Awards First Three Grants

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Nashville Soccer Club has announced the first grant awards from the Nashville SC Community Fund, a charitable fund created to support local nonprofits, community organizations and projects in the Nashville area. 

The first grant cycle of the Nashville SC Community Fund is awarding a total of $25,000 to three local organizations. Two $10,000 grants will be given to Harvest Hands and Backfield in Motion, and one $5,000 grant will go to Preston Taylor Ministries, which match the organizations’ grant requests.

“The Nashville SC Community Fund exemplifies the club’s commitment to fostering strong communities here in Nashville and across Middle Tennessee,” says Brandon Hill, Nashville SC Head of Community Engagement. “We are proud to award our first grants to three deserving nonprofit organizations that fully embrace our passion for making a difference in the communities where we work and live.”

Harvest Hands works alongside its neighbors to further education, healthy living, spiritual formation and economic development in south Nashville. The grant will help them relaunch their Empower Sports program, which provides affordable, local sports leagues and wellness opportunities to an additional 300 youth. The investment will ensure Harvest Hands has the operational support to recruit and train coaches and volunteers, as well as reintroduce a spring soccer, fall football and winter basketball league for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Backfield in Motion (BIM) seeks to educate, engage and empower at-risk youth intellectually, socially and emotionally while using athletics as an incentive for academic improvement. With this grant, BIM will be able to support additional students and school sites with their extended learning program, which runs for 44 weeks during the school year and hosts a camp for four weeks every summer. The program and transportation to and from their programming are free to all participating students in first through 12th grade.

Preston Taylor Ministries (PTM) empowers youth in the Preston Taylor neighborhood to discover and live their dreams, develop a love for learning and build friendships. This grant will help PTM youth participate in local league soccer teams for 10 weeks in the spring of 2023, providing weekly practices, intentional coaching, transportation and supporters cheering on the students at games. Through its sports programming, PTM aims to instill healthy habits in youth by emphasizing exercise, perseverance, teamwork connectedness, self-regulation and a sense of purpose.

Housed at The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and part of Ingram Charities, the Nashville SC Community Fund prioritizes the support of organizations in Middle Tennessee with programs and initiatives in alignment with the club’s three impact areas: Youth Engagement, Health & Well-Being and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Steven Boero
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