Sports philanthropy nonprofit to give the ultimate assist and help athletes across the country address vaccine-hesitancy in their communities.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Athletes for Hope (AFH) announced today that the nonprofit organization will support the efforts of Health and Human Services (HHS) in their ongoing COVID-19 vaccine public awareness campaign, ‘We Can Do This.”
Research has recently shown that vaccine enthusiasm varies across different types of communities throughout the United States. This same research has also shown that trusted voices within those communities can help win over vaccine-hesitant populations. Given the demographics of the 8,000+ AFH Member Athletes and their status as trusted messengers within their communities, AFH is positioned to help HHS reach those that have been most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as those that are most hesitant to receive the vaccine.
“Athletes for Hope is honored to be of service in what is a crucial time in our country,” says Athletes for Hope CEO, Ivan Blumberg. “We are in a unique position to open up the sports community as allies in this important endeavor by leveraging athletes’ platforms – on a purely volunteer basis – to help educate and build vaccine confidence throughout the United States.”
Through the dual efforts of AFH and the ‘We Can Do This’ campaign, athletes, teams, leagues and beyond will be armed with shareable information that is solution-oriented, reliable and relevant to the communities and neighborhoods in which they live and serve.
To learn more, visit wecandothis.hhs.gov and athletesforhope.org.
AFH Media Contact: Kylie Reeves, kreeves@athletesforhope.org
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About Athletes for Hope
AFH is a 501(c)(3) founded in 2007 by several high-profile athletes such as Muhammad Ali, Mia Hamm, Andre Agassi, Jeff Gordon, Warrick Dunn, Alonzo Mourning, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee. As athletes who share a deep commitment to giving back, our founders joined forces to create an organization that brings athletes together to educate, inspire, and empower them to make a difference in the world through sports philanthropy. Since our launch, we have grown to an organization that now works with over 8,000 athletes across more than 25 different sports at the professional, Olympic, Paralympic and collegiate levels and promotes equality, inclusion and diversity for all.
About the ‘We Can Do This’ Campaign
The HHS COVID-19 public education campaign is a national initiative to increase public confidence in and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines while reinforcing basic prevention measures such as mask wearing and social distancing.
Through a nationwide network of trusted messengers and consistent, fact-based public health messaging, the campaign helps the public make informed decisions about their health and COVID-19, including steps to protect themselves and their communities. The effort is driven by communication science and provides tailored information for at-risk groups.