NLF EFFORTS FOCUSED ON SOCIAL JUSTICE, SUSTAINABILITY, YOUTH WELLNESS, MILITARY, AMONG OTHERS
Super Bowl LVI impacted the Los Angeles community with more than 30 charitable activities and community outreach events that will enrich the community and provide lasting legacies long after the game was played.
Super Bowl Week activities include community projects made possible by NFL Foundation Super Bowl Legacy Grants and the Super Bowl LVI Host Committee, community greening projects, Salute to Service events to honor our military and veterans, NFL PLAY 60 Kids Day and a community event involving the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award presented by Nationwide nominees.
As part of the ongoing social justice work through its Inspire Change initiative, the NFL will join Cisco to address the digital divide for the children of incarcerated parents, providing children the opportunity to partake in a special event to record messages to be shared with their incarcerated parents. The digital divide has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and has increased barriers to education, particularly for individuals in underserved communities.
With support from an NFL and Bob Woodruff Foundation Salute to Service Grant, Move United launched the first ever USA Wheelchair Football League for athletes with disabilities, including veterans. The NFL is proud to host a tournament and Championship Game during Super Bowl week. With a visit to Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos, NFL representatives and players will personally interact with the pilots and service members performing the Super Bowl flyover and thank them for their service to our country.
The NFL will celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and recognize the importance of allyship together with Covenant House of California and the LGBT Center. NFL players will join the celebration and deliver notes of allyship and support for the LGBTQ+ community completed by players throughout the league.
For the last 18 months the NFL Business Connect program has worked with 225 local diverse business owners in Los Angeles to prepare them to compete for and win contracts related to Super Bowl LVI. The program hosts professional development workshops and networking events designed to grow the business acumen of women, minority, veteran and LGBTQ+ owned businesses.
The youth and high school football community will be celebrated throughout Super Bowl LVI. Student-athletes and coaches will have the opportunity to enhance their football skills and learn the values associated with the game.
Each year, the NFL, via the NFL Foundation, seeks to leave a lasting legacy in the Super Bowl host community through its Super Bowl Legacy Grant initiative by awarding a $1 million grant matched by the Super Bowl host committee and allocated to nonprofit organizations in the surrounding community. This year, the Super Bowl LVI Legacy Grant Program – Champions Live Here – recognized 56 “unsung hero” grassroots organizations through grant assistance and other support for making a transformative impact in their communities. Over the past eight months, the host committee has showcased these unsung heroes by harnessing the spotlight of the Super Bowl’s long-awaited return to the region. Each organization – whose work touches all 88 cities in Los Angeles County– received a $10,000 grant, professionally produced marketing videos, and public recognition of their work. Six of these organizations received a total grant award of $50,000 to make an even bigger impact in their community.
NFL PLAY 60 KIDS DAY: HUDDLE UP TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
In celebration of the 15th anniversary of the NFL PLAY 60 initiative and the Super Bowl, the NFL will hosted NFL PLAY 60 Kids Day: Huddle Up to Make A Difference on Wednesday, Feb. 9 from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Edward Vincent Park (700 Warren Ln, Inglewood). Nearly 600 local Inglewood Unified School District students will had the opportunity to participate in this festival-style event centered around youth health and wellness and community impact. The event will included fun-filled activities for kids to get active as well as opportunities for them to give back to their local community on key causes important to the NFL and the city of Los Angeles. The NFL PLAY 60 Kids Day stations included students participating in packing 1,000 care bags in support of a local nonprofit ‘Peace Over Violence,’ a garden restoration and tree planting project hosted by the American Heart Association and the NFL, a PLAY 60 fitness zone area and painting a mural alongside a local Inglewood artist. Supporting the event is NFL licensee Rock Em’ Socks, who is donating NFL socks for the care bags. NFL PLAY 60 is the league’s national youth health and wellness campaign that encourages kids to get physically active for at least 60 minutes a day.
