WILLIAMSBURG — The Williamsburg Community Foundation announced it recently awarded $25,629 in grants to seven youth sports organizations through its Altshuler Amateur Sports Grants.
The grants are made possible by a bequest from Benjamin R. Altshuler, a longtime Williamsburg resident whose passion for amateur sports — particularly wrestling — led to the establishment of a memorial endowment fund to support amateur sports.
In 12 years, the Altshuler Fund has distributed over $500,000 in grants to the community to support youth sports and his other cause — increasing access to transportation to enable people to fully participate in the life of the community.
The grant recipients:
- Bruton High School Wrestling — $2,629
- Girls in Gear (bicycling) — $2,000
- Lafayette High School Wrestling — $5,000
- New Kent High School Wrestling — $5,000
- Tabb High School Wrestling — $4,500
- We Ball Foundation — $1,500
- Williamsburg Wrestling Club — $5,000
The Altshuler Fund supports high school wrestling and other amateur sports programs that are not typically accessible to the general public, the Williamsburg Community Foundation said in a press release, aiming to promote participation in sports by youth who would not otherwise be able to participate, particularly in sports that are not as well-known or as well-funded.
This year’s wrestling grants will support the purchase of necessary equipment, uniforms, and pay for other essential costs to run matches safely. The New Kent High School grant will allow it to provide nutritional meals for athletes traveling to road competitions.
Other grant recipients include:
- Girls In Gear, which teaches “life skills through bike skills” to adolescent girls and strives to encourage inner strength, confidence, and kindness, according to the Williamsburg Community Foundation. The grants will help provide scholarships for girls to participate, and in many cases, a gently used bike as well.
- We Ball Foundation supports boys and girls through basketball training and conditioning, largely in the Highland Park Neighborhood, emphasizing excellence in sports and in the classroom since 2010.
How to Apply
The Foundation typically awards competitive grants twice a year, it said. The next opportunity to apply is for grants to be awarded in spring of 2023, with a deadline of Dec. 15. All application materials and guidelines can be found at WilliamsburgCommunityFoundation.org.
The next round of sports grants will be offered in September 2023.
If an organization has never received a grant from WCF, it should contact the foundation office for guidance before beginning a new application. Contact Ginny Gasink, Program Officer, at 757-259-1660 or email vgasink@williamsburgcommunityfoundation.org.
