We would like to take this opportunity to update you on the progress The YSI Foundation has made in bringing YSI soccer programming to kids in under-resourced communities. Thanks to your generous support, our inaugural March 2022 Galazo raised close to $16,000. The board of The YSI Foundation thanks you again and we want to fill you in on how our initial work, made possible by your donations, has helped transform the lives of kids in Chicago!

On April 21 of this year, we held our first meeting with Centro Romero, an organization that serves immigrant and refugee families in the Chicago area. Their office is located at 6216 N. Clark St., and they serve the Edgewater/Rogers Park communities. Through our initial meetings with Centro Romero, we feel like we’ve developed the beginnings of a strong collaboration. For summer 2022, The YSI Foundation provided a soccer summer camp in conjunction with Centro Romero’s existing summer programming. From July 18th to August 12th, The YSI Foundation provided half-day soccer camp activities at the Chicago Futsal Academy. Altogether The YSI Foundation provided 48 hours of summer soccer fun to 46 kids, ages 5 to 12. Additionally, through Centro Romero, we hired and trained two adolescents from Centro Romero to work as “assistant coaches.” The youth assistant coaches were fantastic! They were very helpful to coaches Rolando, Hector, and Ben throughout the summer camp. We are proud to be able to provide meaningful summer employment to youth and hope to expand this opportunity in the future.

The kids at 2022 The YSI Foundation/Centro Romero summer soccer camp had a wonderful time and were deeply impacted by our coaches. We have the pictures to prove it! Here are some of the many images of the kids. Based on feedback from the kids and staff at Centro Romero, we feel like our first YSI Foundation summer soccer camp was a great success, and it is only the beginning! We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Centro Romero!

Please reach out to us if you have any questions or comments to offer.

Best Regards,