Too often, children with physical and cognitive disabilities never get the chance to step up to the plate.

In 2012, The YMCA of Greater Charlotte and Miracle League teamed up to give children with disabilities a chance to play baseball by creating the YMCA Miracle League through a generous financial contribution from The Bill and Sharon Allen Family Foundation. We place children on a team of between 10 and 12 baseball players for games that last approximately one hour.

The YMCA of Greater Charlotte's Miracle League Field is located at the Keith Family YMCA. This custom-designed baseball complex hosts Charlotte's first completely wheelchair accessible surface that allows children of all abilities to take the field.

This is a collaboration between two organizations supported by The Bill and Sharon Allen Family Foundation. Both Right Moves for Youth and The Spokes Group are doing great work in our community, and we are happy to support both while having a ton of fun building bikes alongside city employees.

(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) – This morning, the City of Charlotte continued its annual holiday commitment to build 75 bikes for students participating in Right Moves for Youth, a school-based dropout prevention and support program for middle and high school students from economically challenged neighborhoods in Mecklenburg County. The Spokes Group donated the bikes.

City of Charlotte employees and their families spent the morning together assembling the bicycles. “Year over year, the Bike Build initiative has had lasting impact on the lives of so many children,” said Sabrina N. Gilchrist, executive director of Right Moves for Youth. “We are incredibly grateful that the City of Charlotte and The Spokes Group understand how important it is for young people to be seen, to be given a means of independence, and to be rewarded for their positive development. When our students receive brand-new bikes through this initiative, they realize that our community came together for them. They feel supported and become more motivated to succeed.”

“The Spokes Group has had a longstanding partnership with Right Moves for Youth over the years, and we have donated more than 1,000 bikes through this initiative,” said William Beard, director of The Spokes Group. “We are more than happy to provide bikes as rewards for students.”

The Alexander Youth Network received 50 brand new bicycles to replace a worn and tattered fleet. The Bill and Sharon Allen Family Foundation went beyond financial support by engaging the local cycling community to help assemble the new bikes. Bill and Sharon have been long time supporters of the Alexander Youth Network and just recently they help kick off what has become a very successful program called Bark and Heal.

With support from the Bill and Sharon Allen Family Foundation, the U Deserve A Chance Foundation is renovating a forgotten community baseball facility on the West side of Charlotte. The facility will be home to the Queens College baseball team while serving as a community center and a place where kids can learn and play baseball. The ground breaking ceremony included baseball legends and the honorable Mayor Vi Lyles.

Bill believes strongly that his foundation can do more. One way to do this is through service days where the foundation coordinates and works with volunteers helping a client with a simple task. In this case, we installed new garage shelving for a client of the Joe Martin ALS Foundation.