Photo: AdvoCare’s CEO, Brian Connolly (left), and Executive Vice President and Foundation President, Allison Levy (right), with the Ragus family.
The first round of grant funding from the AdvoCare Foundation, amounting to $150,000, will benefit eight organizations focused on child health and safety.
Investing in long-term solutions to child welfare is the mission of the AdvoCare Foundation, established in 2015 by the nutrition, weight-management and sports performance company. The first slate of grant recipients illustrates how that mission will translate into practical application.
AdvoCare concentrated the funding in four major cities—Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles and Philadelphia—with two recipients selected from each area. In Dallas, home to AdvoCare headquarters, the foundation awarded $20,000 to both YMCA Metropolitan Dallas and the local America SCORES, which runs an after-school program centered on soccer, poetry and community service.
“Thanks to the generosity and commitment of the AdvoCare Foundation, we are able to start a new pilot program at Life School Oak Cliff this year,” said Crystal Schober, Executive Director of America SCORES Dallas.
While AdvoCare has a long history of giving back, the newly established charity brings a formal framework and focus to its philanthropic efforts. The AdvoCare Foundation was initially funded by a $1.5 million gift from the company and the family of AdvoCare’s late founder, Charlie Ragus.
“We started the foundation to strengthen our 23-year legacy of giving back and focus our efforts on the next generation of champions,” said Alison Levy, AdvoCare Executive Vice President and AdvoCare Foundation President, in a reference to the company’s slogan, “We build champions.”
