People come to the KidSport Calgary office to get fitted for sports equipment. (Clayton Yates, CMRU.ca)
KidSport Calgary is a non-profit organization in Calgary that gives access to sports for children from low-income households. KidSport Calgary provides grants of $500 per child, every year to low-income households that have kids from the ages of 18 and under. KidSport Calgary also has a partnership with the Calgary Flames Sports Bank which provides the appropriate equipment for children to play their desired sport.
KidSport Calgary provides access to a variety of sports
When an individual applies for a grant at KidSport, the grant will be provided for people that are looking to get involved in programs that are 80 per cent sport or physical activity related. Hockey, soccer, boxing, and dance are just a few of the sports that KidSport helps provide access to. Overall, the organization works with over 450 sports clubs from over 75 different sports.
KidSport Calgary hosts a variety of events to provide fundraising
KidSport hosts a number of events in Calgary, which provides fundraising for the charity. One of the longest running events that KidSport hosts, is Eric Francis’ Pizza Pigout. The event occurred on November 2nd and hosted over 25 different pizzerias that competed to see who had the best pizzeria in Calgary. The event raised around $70,000 for KidSport in 2022.
Brian Burke’s Targets for Kids is another one of the events that raises funds for KidSport. The event is usually hosted around the same time as the Calgary Stampede. Teams of four can enter this event for $1,000 and shoot at clay pigeons during the event.
These events are open to the public to attend. Additionally, there is a silent auction at each event, and there are interactive experiences that people can participate in at these events. One of the experiences at Eric Francis’ Pizza Pigout is an eating competition against Joey Chestnut, who is the reigning champion of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.
The staff has a passion for sports and what it teaches
Mirela Rahneva, who immigrated to Canada at the age of 11 and has competed in two Olympics in skeleton, is the partnership development manager at KidSport Calgary. Her role involves building connections with the corporate community to fundraise and create partnerships with companies.
In an interview, Rahneva says that she believes that the values of KidSport Calgary align with her own values which include getting kids involved in sports.
“Sport played a really big role in my upbringing and integration into Canadian society,” says Rahneva. “It’s all about getting kids active, involved in sport, participating in physical activity, which in the end helps with their social skills.”
People can get involved with KidSport
People can support KidSport by donating to them, volunteering, or by helping connect them with potential companies that they could partner with.
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