Looking Back and Looking Forward - Athletes for Hope

Looking Back and Looking Forward

As Athletes for Hope celebrates its 10-year anniversary, we are humbled by the many amazing people and organizations who have joined us in our journey over the past decade. We owe much of our success to our passionate group of supporters, such as Nike, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gordon & Llura Gund Foundation, the Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation, our Board of Directors and so many others – thank you for everything that you do!

Over the past 10 years, AFH has grown from its original 12 Founding Athletes to a network of over 3,500 professional, Olympic, and college athletes. AFH member athletes have positively impacted tens of thousands of people across many charities and causes, and we feel lucky to work with such passionate, dedicated people on a daily basis.

In 2016, AFH continued to deepen the reach and impact of its programs, and a few of those highlights include:

  • Facilitated over 150 Let’s Move! Active School visits focused upon improving physical fitness in communities throughout the U.S. We were honored to receive the inaugural 2016 Let’s Move! Active Schools Partner of the Year Award.
  • Expanded reach of Athletes for Hope University to 34 college teams from Southern University, Louisiana State University, Tulane University, Michigan State University, and University of Virginia. In total, over 1,000 students participated in our Causeway Workshops and over 1,000 volunteer hours were logged by the student athletes in 2016.
  • Deepened the impact of AFH’s work on the global stage as our athletes became advocates for Gates Foundation grantee organizations such as 1,000 Days and Nothing But Nets.

While we have celebrated many achievements in 2016 and over the past decade, this year we mourn the loss of Muhammad Ali, who not only was a global sports icon, but a philanthropist and humanitarian who spent much of his life advocating for others in need around the world. We are also privileged to call him one of the Founders of Athletes for Hope. We created a short video to honor Muhammad’s legacy – we invite you to view it below.

On behalf of our team, thank you for your continued support. While more work remains; we hope you will join us in helping us make the world a better place.

Please consider one of the following ways to support our work and help us celebrate a decade of helping athletes and charities across the globe:

  • When you are buying gifts this holiday season, use AmazonSmile to support AFH.
  • Donate now to ensure AFH can deepen the impact of its programs.

Thank you for making our mission possible. These last 10 years would not have been possible without your support.

Best,

 

Ivan Blumberg

CEO, Athletes for Hope