By, Scott Mittleman
Co-Founder SF Funraisers
It’s that time of the week again to look at sports and philanthropy working together. This week, I will shed light on a coach’s community foundation devoting their efforts to numerous causes.
Last week, I mentioned The Steve Patterson Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy and the Red Sox winning the team award for 2009. The individual award for 2009 went to Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis and the Marvin Lewis Community Foundation.
The Marvin Lewis Community Foundation is not just something that Marvin Lewis considers a side project. He devotes as much time and effort to the foundation as he does to coaching the Bengals. The foundation has worked on many projects involving youth camps, after school learning and breast cancer prevention. Despite a struggling economy and internal hardships with their executive director passing away, the foundation has still prospered.
I know first hand the difficulty of running a non-profit while having a full time job. People might think, ‘oh a football coach, that’s not a real job’ and of course Marvin Lewis should have a foundation. The fact is it takes true dedication to run a foundation that consistently goes above and beyond to help the community. Thanks to Marvin’s leadership and a wonderful staff, the Marvin Lewis Community Foundation continues to be a leader in sports philanthropy.
Seeing how the Red Sox and The Marvin Lewis Community Foundation are making a difference inspires me to do even more for non-profits and bridge the relationship between sports and philanthropy.
Read my posts each Wednesday for insight into how Sports can effect more than just a score!!
Related Links:
Radio Interview: The Front Row with Betsy Ross on NPR affiliate WVXU interviewed Greg Johnson and Carlette Patterson