ORLANDO, Fla., - Orlando City Foundation (Foundation) – with the help of MetroPCS - is set to donate $10,000 of its Soccer in the City proceeds to partner organization Parramore Kidz Zone. The donation will be awarded to 10 students in the Parramore Kidz Zone in the form of scholarships, in which each recipient will receive $1,000 toward college tuition and expenses.
“Our [the Foundation] main focus is to promote the holistic well-being of children,” said the Foundation’s Chairwoman Kay Rawlins. “We want to start our initiatives in the heart of Parramore, which will hopefully start a trickle effect throughout Orlando. Preparing the children for the future is something that the whole city of Orlando should be involved in.”
The award ceremony took place Saturday, August 2nd, during the Lions home game.
“We are so grateful to the Foundation for their amazing generosity. These scholarships mean so much to the youth who will receive them,” said Director of Families, Parks and Recreation for Parramore Kidz Zone Lisa Early. “These scholarships make college achievable for the Parramore students. Not only that, but the younger kids in the neighborhood will see these scholars and say, ‘If my big brother can do it, if my neighbor can do it, if my cousin can do it, then I can do it too.’ ”
Parramore Kidz Zone is a neighborhood-based collaborative which aims to equip and empower Parramore’s children to become successful, healthy, and well-educated adults. By investing in early childhood education, after school programs, programs that build family economic success, youth development programs and other initiatives, the Parramore Kidz Zone is gradually reducing juvenile crime rates and high school dropout rates across the district.
