SACRAMENTO, Calif., Nov. 21, 2016 — The Kelly Foundation awarded $100,000 to Special Olympics Northern California (SONC) to support the launch of the first Sacramento Schools Partnership Program for K-12 student-athletes in the Sacramento region and other key initiatives. The Kelly Foundation Board selected SONC as the recipient of the 2016 Major Gift in order to support children and adults with intellectual disabilities through new programs, initiatives and expansion efforts.

“While we had many reputable charities to choose from and would enjoy awarding all of the applicants, we selected Special Olympics Northern California because they will make great use of the grant to launch Sacramento’s first Schools Partnership Program,” said Chairman of the Board of River City Bank and President of the Kelly Foundation Shawn Kelly Devlin. “We are excited to sponsor student athletes and the communities that surround them, while supporting a larger organization whose efforts reach far beyond the Sacramento region’s borders.”

The new Sacramento Schools Partnership Program will unify students with and without disabilities through sports and whole-school involvement activities to provide them with the knowledge, experience and skills necessary to create and sustain school communities that promote inclusion, acceptance and respect for all students. At present, SONC provides support to over 9,385 student athletes in these programs outside the greater Sacramento area and is expected to increase the student athlete total with the expansion of the new Sacramento Schools Partnership Program.

“We are excited to be awarded this grant from the Kelly Foundation which will help us expand our services to Special Olympics athletes and volunteer coaches in the greater Sacramento region,” said President and CEO of Special Olympics Northern California and Nevada David Solo. “As our organization moves beyond just sports, this grant will allow us to provide coaches with training and certification, bring health screenings to our athletes at competitions and start a Special Olympics program in the K-12 public schools. We thank the Kelly Foundation for being a champion of inclusion for the intellectually disabled.”

In conjunction with the grant, The Kelly Foundation will co-sponsor the Healthy Athletes initiative at the local level. The Healthy Athletes initiative provides health services and information to athletes and maintains the world’s largest database of health data for people with intellectual disabilities. Throughout its history, the initiative has trained more than 136,000 health care professionals who have provided indispensable care to millions worldwide.

Other measures the grant will support include the expansion of coach training and additional competition opportunities for athletes within the Greater Sacramento Area. These efforts will help provide adequate training for the athletes, allowing for an increase in Sacramento athletes at statewide events.

The Kelly Foundation supports health and human services, education, culture, environment and civic improvement through their funding. Each year, the Foundation provides approximately $400,000 in grants to organizations that support the Sacramento region. Since merging with the RCB Foundation in 2009, the Kelly Foundation, of which River City Bank remains a major contributor, focuses on giving back to the greater Sacramento region through charitable donations.

For more information about the Kelly Foundation, please visit www.KellyFoundationSacramento.org. For more details on Special Olympics Northern California, and its initiatives, programs and plans, please visit www.SONC.org.

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