Expanding digital literacy, promoting community service and helping build youth leadership skills

The Comcast Foundation announced today that it has awarded nearly $245,000 in grants to 7 nonprofit organizations in Utah in 2015. The grants support programs aimed at the Comcast Foundation’s areas of focus – expanding digital literacy, promoting community service, and building tomorrow’s leaders.

Boys and Girls Club of Utah, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah and Centro de la Famila de Utah are some of the many local organizations that are making a meaningful difference in the community and were supported by the Comcast Foundation this year. In an effort to bridge the digital divide the Comcast Foundation, Boys and Girls Club of Utah and My.Future partnered to educate Club members about our digital world and ignite passion for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Comcast’s partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah provides the opportunity for Comcast employees to serve as Bigs and mentor Littles (at-risk youth) from a neighboring Elementary School through the Beyond School Wall Program. Through a partnership with Centro de la Familia de Utah (CDLF), local youth ages 14 – 21 receive advanced digital literacy training and get a head start on building a better future with Comcast’s Digital Connectors program.

“With the help of community partners like Comcast, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake is uniquely positioned to address a significant need facing today’s youth in access to digital communications, technology and STEM related programs,” LeAnn Saldivar, President and CEO, Boys and Girls Club of Salt Lake City. “Our Clubs promote digital inclusion through access to communication technologies to Low-to-Moderate Income households in Salt Lake City’s neighborhoods.  These activities will provide a clear pathway for underrepresented youth to access technology communications, succeed in school and enter technology related work fields.”

Big Brothers Big Sisters & the Beyond School Walls program

“Comcast is proud to award these grants to our partner organizations to connect and strengthen the communities we serve,” said Merlin Jensen, Vice President, Technical Operations, Utah and Arizona. “Thanks to the tireless and extremely important work of these nonprofit organizations, Utah is a better place to call home.”

Additional organizations receiving Comcast Foundation grants in Utah include:

• Asian Association of Utah
• Inclusion Center for Community and Justice of Utah
• Utah Coalition of La Raza
• Easter Seals of Utah

“Centro de la Familia de Utah (CDLF) leverages Comcast’s Digital Connectors funding to recruit and serve disadvantaged first generation minority high school students in a year-long, voluntary after school program, to enable these students to acquire technology skills and the knowledge base for safe use of computers and the internet,” said Ned Maxfield, Director of Community Engagement, CDLF.

Including the support in Utah, the Comcast Foundation has donated more than $18 million in 2015 to nonprofit organizations in the communities it serves nationwide. In addition to the grants from the Comcast Foundation, Comcast also responds to community needs through local sponsorships and in-kind support, such as airing public service announcements, employee volunteerism, and providing technology equipment and services to organizations across the country.

About the Comcast Foundation

The Comcast Foundation was founded by Comcast Corporation in June 1999 to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations. The Foundation primarily invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on their communities. The Foundation has three community investment priorities—expanding digital literacy, promoting service, and building tomorrow’s leaders. Since its inception, the Comcast Foundation has donated more than $170 million to organizations in the communities nationwide that Comcast serves. More information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com/community.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake

Every day, nearly 100,000 Utah kids are left on their own after school. Boys & Girls Clubs give these kids a safe place to go to during these unsupervised hours. Founded in 1967, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake is the largest and oldest Boys & Girls Club organization in Utah, and provides a safe place to over 1,300 kids each day and over 8,000 kids annually at 12 locations across Salt Lake and Tooele counties. Our Clubs are affordable for all kids, and provide youth with caring adult mentors and life-enhancing programs. Success, hope, and opportunity are within reach of every young person who enters our Club doors. Visit www.GSLClubs.org or call (801) 322-4411 for more information.

About Centro De La Familia (CDLF)

Centro de la Familia de Utah is a non-profit agency devoted to strengthening the Latino community in Utah – economically, socially, and politically. For 40 years, Centro has served the Latino population throughout the state with an acute appreciation for the community’s specialized social, cultural, and linguistic strengths and needs.