Heartfelt Champions: Kansas City Chiefs Score Big in Community Impact Through Charitable Initiatives

The KC Chiefs have a multitude of community outreach programs that focus on health and wellness, families and children support, civic, and legacy initiatives. These initiatives ensure wellness throughout local communities by helping youth stay active and providing for those in need.

Programs

KC Chiefs Play 60 – The KC Chiefs, Chiefs Community Caring Team, help spread the NFL’s Play 60 message by encouraging the youth to create healthy eating habits and exercising for at least 60 minutes each day. NFL Play 60 provides funds for schools to create healthy changes for years to come.

Youth Football Outreach – The Chiefs are committed to providing access to football to young athletes. In the fall of 2008, they created a youth football field at the University of Kansas Hospital Training Complex through funding from the Hunt Family Foundation and the NFL Youth Football Funding Board. Located close to the Chiefs Practice Facility and Arrowhead Stadium, it has given youth in the area the opportunity to play football like their favorite NFL players. Almost 20,000 youth football players and coaches have been able to use the field as it’s home to various youth teams, leagues, and programs. The Chiefs and the NFL have also partnered and donated almost $2 million for metro-area field refurbishments and constructions that have helped 11 local fields. This funding is provided through Grassroots Community Football Field Grants that wouldn’t be possible without the partnership of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).

Chiefs Blood Drive – The Chiefs host the Chiefs Blood Drive each year during Thanksgiving Week to support local hospitals, patients, and physicians. The Kansas City Chiefs also partner with the Community Blood Center to increase the blood supply available for the 70+ hospital partners in Kansas and Missouri.

Souper Bowl of Caring – The Souper Bowl of Caring is held annually and works to fight food insecurity in local communities. The Chiefs are a national sponsor of the Souper Bowl of Caring hunger relief program, and their work in the program has helped provide more than 100,000 meals locally.

Lift Up America – The Chiefs are partners with Lift Up America, and they have provided food to local communities for the past nine years. They annually give 60 area relief organizations 30,000 pounds of high protein food.

Chiefs Thanksgiving Food Distribution – Chiefs players, coaches, and staff have been collecting funds since 1992 to provide more than 18,200 families with food for Thanksgiving.

Operation Breakthrough Adopt-A-Family – Each year the Chiefs Community Caring Team, works with Operation Breakthrough’s Holiday Adopt-A-Family program. The Chiefs help more than 50 of the center’s families share a traditional holiday as a family unit.

Chief’s Charity Game – The Kansas City Chiefs host a charity game with the Kansas City community that raises money for children charities in their local community. This charity game has taken place since 1985 and was created by Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt. The Chiefs Charity Games has raised more than $13.7 million, assisting over 125 charities each year.

My Cause My Cleats – Chiefs players wear custom footwear to raise awareness of charities important to them. Players and coaches participate, and many shoes are auctioned after the following game with proceeds going to the respective causes or charities.

Cam Erving – V Foundation for Cancer Research

Daniel Sorensen – Parkinson’s Foundation/Multiple System Atrophy

Foundations

Hunt Family Foundation – Created in 1983, The Hunt Family Foundation assists over 60 local youth agencies each year. The foundation has improved the lives of children in the Kansas City community with the help of people in the community and businesses. It has been able to give back millions of dollars for youth health and wellness, fitness, and education.

15 and the Mahomies Foundation – 15 and the Mahomies Foundation was created by NFL MVP Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes in 2019, and it strives to improve the lives of children. Its main initiatives focus on health, wellness, and assist communities in need of resources as well as other charitable causes. Its 15 for 15 program supports 15 youth charitable initiatives targeting academics, science, the arts, classroom supplies, athletic, children with disabilities, after-school programs and more.