Portland-Based Nonprofit Scores Touchdown With NFL Grant

The Portland-based national nonprofit organization Friends of the Children won a $200,000 grant from the NFL’s Inspire Change program. According to an FOTC spokesperson, the $200,000 will be awarded to the locally based national headquarters to support its 44 nationwide locations to “provide enhanced training, coaching, and resources” while increasing capacity to support kids.

“We are so honored to join the NFL’s Inspire Change program in the focus area of education,” said Terri Sorensen, Friends of the Children’s CEO, in a statement. “Additional resources from the program will help Friends of the Children empower even more youth across the country through paid, professional mentors.”

Founded in 1993 in Portland by Duncan Campbell, founder of the natural resources investment firm Campbell Global, Friends of the Children connects kids with long-term mentors. The organization is still headquartered in Portland but now includes dozens of locations across the country. The organization’s mentors aim to give children experiencing violence, poverty and substance abuse in their homes—as well as kids in the foster care system and those with unmet mental health needs—skills they need to cope emotionally with childhood trauma and life’s other stressors like socializing and school. Through its “2gen” approach, FOTC supports not only its pediatric clients, but their parents and guardians as well.

An FOTC spokesperson said the Wilsons have supported the nonprofit from their Why Not You Foundation since 2016. The New England Patriots’ wide receiver DeMario Douglas wore a pair of customized cleats promoting FOTC in November as part of the league’s My Cause, My Cleats Initiative that lets players promote a cause close to them. The Chicago Bears donated more than $100,000 to its local FOTC chapter earlier this month.

Along with the Wilsons and the NFL, FOTC has partnered with and received financial support from other high-profile partners, including MacKenzie Scott, Major League Baseball, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the Hearst Foundations, the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and local philanthropists Gary and Christine Rood.

Clarification: This story has been updated to more accurately reflect Friends of the Children’s plans for the NFL’s grant.