Harlem Youth Orgs Win Grants For Supporting Sports In Pandemic

HARLEM, NY — Four Harlem organizations received grants late last month honoring their work supporting youth sports during the coronavirus pandemic, benefactors said Wednesday.

The grants, which totaled $10.8 million, were given by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation to 38 organizations helping alleviate the worst affects of the crisis, including these Harlem groups:

• StreetSquash, which uses squash and other academic support services to help young people in Harlem realize their academic, athletic and personal potential
• Figure Skating in Harlem, combining figure skating and academic support to help about 150 young women from elementary through high school grow in health, emotional well-being and leadership
• New Heights, an East Harlem-based organization combining basketball with academic support and nutrition counseling for 250 students from elementary through high school
• DREAM, which uses baseball and softball to help more than 2,500 students in Harlem, the South Bronx and Newark, from kindergarten through college, as they build academic and socio-emotional skills

Five other sports-based youth mentorship organizations in New York also received grants from the foundation.

This program is part of a $100 million global relief initiative by the foundation, which was founded by the family of the Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos, to help groups responding to the pandemic.