The world of competitive sports is on pause, but thankfully team spirit has not been cancelled. We’ve been so inspired by the ways so many athletes and athletic organizations have stepped up to assist their communities during this time.
Today we’re shouting out just a few of the amazing ways teams and athletes are making a positive impact all over the world, against all odds. Check it out and get ready to be filled with a whole lot of hope!
Bismack Biyombo
First up is the amazing Bismack Biyombo, from the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets. He’s giving back to his home country, the Republic Democratic of Congo, providing one million dollars of medical supplies including over 10,000 face masks, hospital beds, wheelchairs, gloves, hazmat suits and other personal protective gear through his foundation.
J.J. Watt and Kealia Ohai
Chicago Red Stars forward Kealia Ohai and her husband, Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt donated $350,000 to the Houston Houston Food Bank for relief efforts to provide over 1 million meals to those in need during the pandemic.
Plus, even though the J.J. Watt Foundation had to cancel their annual Charity Classic, many ticket holders have been inspired to forward their ticket refund back to the foundation to continue to support their important work assisting schools all over the country to build safe, supervised and structured after-school sports programs.
The Athletes Relief Fund
Athletes coming together for COVID-19 relief has raised nearly $200,000 for the Center for Disaster Philanthropy's (CDP) COVID-19 Response Fund, supporting people who are directly affected and for the heroic frontline professionals. In addition, the fund offers solutions to make sure kids don’t fall behind in school and small businesses bounce back after this unexpected economic downturn. Making a donation of just $25 gets you entered to win items from your favorite athletes like a signed football from NFL’s Rob Gronkowski, a signed leotard from Olympic gymnast, Simone Biles, a signed snowboard from Olympic gold medalist, Chloe Kim, and a signed racket from tennis great, Andy Roddick, to name a few.
Russell Wilson
Seattle Seahawks quarterback, Russel Wilson and his wife, pop star Ciara, donated one million meals to Seattle food bank, Food Life Line, a Feeding America partner.
Drew Brees
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees donated $5 million to the state of Louisiana mobilizing their partnerships with Second Harvest Food Bank, Ochsner Health Systems, Walk-Ons, Jimmy Johns, Smalls Sliders and Waitr to prepare and deliver over 10,000 meals per day throughout the state to children on meal programs, seniors, and families in need.
Maia Shibutani
Olympic bronze medal ice skater, Maia Shibutani, has launched a crowdfunding effort to get health care workers the supplies that they need. Maia beat cancer in late 2019 and had a tumor removed in December. Her GoFundMe page has surpassed its $15,000 goal so a new goal of $40,000 was set. All of the money raised is going to GetUsPPE, an organization that is working to connect doctors with equipment and supplies, including masks, N95 respirators, surgical masks, protective goggles, and more.
Justin Verlander and Kate Upton
When the MLB announced that they would still be sending paychecks to players, Houston Astros pitcher, Justin Verlander, and his wife, Sports Illustrated cover model and actress, Kate Upton, announced on Instagram that he would pay it forward, making a donation to a different relief organization each week.
Their first donations have gone to the Houston Food Bank, a Feeding America partner, the largest food bank in the United States, providing over 750,000 pounds of food to people in need. They also partnered with a few high impact efforts happening in Detroit; one of our garment suppliers, Bella Canvas, to provide over 25,000 face masks to police plus others in the community who need protection. Other efforts Verlander and Upton have contributed to in Detroit include The Ford Foundation, Bethany Frankel’s Global Empowerment Fund, and Feed The Front Lines Detroit, helping to provide valuable PPE, touch thermometers and meals to first responders and healthcare workers.
How can we help?
We see all the amazing ways that our sports heroes are making a difference in the world during this historic global pandemic, and we’re inspired by their lead. We are now offering our community two new ways to make a positive impact during this difficult time.
The first way is our free gift to you, an email toolkit we have specifically designed to help our coaches and teams stay connected. We understand that now, more than ever, you have a bit of extra time on your hands and you’re searching for creative ways to cultivate team culture, even though you can’t physically be together.
That’s why Sport Fuels Life is offering you the ultimate QuaranTEAM Challenge. If you’re ready to take your athletes from quarantine to dream team, we’ve got the tools for you, and it’s completely free.
Our hope is to provide team building tools that are accessible for coaches who are eager to build and grow their team culture - now more than ever. We have designed this free instant downloadable toolkit to help you create intentional and sincere ways to encourage, inspire and communicate with your team during a time when stay at home orders make it impossible for you to physically be there.
When you take the QuaranTEAM Connection Challenge, you’ll get creative opportunities to:
- Have One-on-One No-Contact Interactions with Your Team
- Show Appreciation and Gratitude with Intention
- Conduct Virtual Team Building Activities
- Make the Most of This Rare Time Off
- Promote Communication and Collaboration
- & so much more!
You can sign up for this free email toolkit by clicking here.
We’ve also created a new collection of safer at home inspired merchandise that is now available on our website. We will be donating a portion of proceeds to Covenant House, helping to provide housing and other services to homeless youth, who are now facing unsafe and unsanitary conditions due to the spread of coronavirus. Donations help Covenant House give food, shelter, clothing and medical care to young people in need in 31 cities across six countries, and we are proud to support their important work during this time.
Shop our latest collection now and we’ll make a donation to Covenant House.
