CUYS Gratefully Accepts BHCU Kids Foundation “Hope for Children” Grant

This week, Chester Upland Youth Soccer gratefully accepted a $1,500 Hope for Children grant from The BHCU Kids Foundation. This generous funding will help support growing after-school programming costs in communities where the vast majority of students qualify for free or reduced lunch because of their families’ economic challenges.

CUYS currently runs “Soccer for Success,” which includes soccer skills, nutrition education and social-emotional learning opportunities for hundreds of children at five elementary schools in Chester, Upland and Eddystone, as well as at the Fairgrounds Community of Chester Township.

CUYS was founded in 2012 and has expanded (under the new name Youth Development United) to include weekend activities for families to together increase their access to wellness, the arts and personal development.

The BHCU Kids Foundation began with a simple mission of strengthening the Delaware County community by seeking to provide programs and support for our most at-risk youth, with the full knowledge and understanding that they are our future.  The BHCU Kids Foundation’s website reads: “Opportunities abound to assist today’s youth with educational endeavors, employment, physical fitness programs, etc., all of which help to create capable, responsible, and healthy young adults.”

Specifically, the Foundation’s Hope for Children grant supports organizations that enhance and improve the quality of life for at-risk children. The fund is one of many philanthropic efforts administrated by The Community’s Foundation, who is committed to enhancing and improving local quality of life.

TCF President and CEO Heather Finnegan said: "BHCU always 'answers the call,' whether they're asked for grants, holiday gifts, or volunteer manpower. BHCU is committed to Delaware County through-and-through; they do business locally and they give locally. We were happy to connect BHCU and CUYS, who has served thousands of Delaware County children in their after-school soccer program over more than a decade. Always community-centered, they work with established community leaders to ensure that their programming meets the needs of each specific school community."

To join BHCU Kids Foundation and The Community’s Foundation in supporting CUYS with donations of time and/or money, please visit https://cuys.org/donate

Jeannine Anckaitis