PUMP held its 19th annual fundraiser Kickball for a Cause (K4aC) on August 13, 2022. This year, we raised a record total of $14,032 from K4aC! The funds were divided equally to support Foster Love Project and Proud Haven.
K4aC is a yearly tournament featuring young adult kickball teams competing to raise money for two community-selected charitable organizations. 32 teams competed this year. Our participation was up this year with nearly 100 more players. Since its inception in 2002, including this year, K4aC has raised more than $154,000 for 21 Pittsburgh-area nonprofit organizations.
Foster Love
Foster Love Project’s mission is to provide impactful resources to empower children in transition by giving love and support to foster children and the families that care for them. Foster Love Project is the largest resource for kids in foster care for goods and services in Western PA.
Proud Haven
Proud Haven provides a safe shelter for LGBTQIA+ youth (ages 18-30) experiencing homelessness in Pittsburgh through their shelter, Haven House, and a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQIA+ youth under 21 at their drop-in program, Pittsburgh YOUth Haven.
A Waste Reduced Event
In addition to providing opportunities for young Pittsburghers to support the community, this year’s K4aC is also PUMP’s sixth year striving to be a zero-waste event. With help from Pennsylvania Resources Council (PRC), PUMP educated team captains and volunteers on proper waste reduction and diverted 86% of this year’s K4aC event waste, a total of 446.1 pounds of waste. This is our highest total to date!
Zero waste is a challenging goal to reach. However, each year we get closer and continue to improve in hopes of reaching a zero-waste goal of 90% or higher waste diversion. We will look at the recommendations from the event report provided by PRC and continue to move towards our goal in future years.
Thank You
Thank you to our sponsors, who make this event possible and, through their generous support, allow us to give so much to our causes and community!
Kickball for a Cause was presented by Dollar Bank and also sponsored by Allegheny Coffee & Tea Exchange, Total Quality Logistics, Family Tent Rental, Light Brothers, Mr. John Portable Toilet Rental, Eat’N Park, PittsburghAde, and Molson Coors.
We would also like to give a special shout-out to our food and beverage host, Bigham Tavern, for their amazing generosity in donating catered lunches, their beer truck, and providing serving staff at the event.
If you would like to know more about the impact of K4aC or other upcoming events such as the Steel City World Cup, please contact Jaime Filipek, PSL Program Development Manager, at jaime@pump.org or call 412-338-2133 ext. 14.
Cheers to another successful year of K4aC — we can’t wait to see you next year!