Chick-fil-A Bowl Extends Sponsorship of Play It Smart Program

Atlanta's Bowl continues to grow its community involvement platform.

ATLANTA (September 20, 2011) – More than 700 Atlanta public high school students will continue to benefit from an ongoing mentorship program thanks to the Chick-fil-A Bowl’s renewal of its program sponsorship.

The Chick-fil-A Bowl today announced its recommitment of a $180,000 annual donation to the National Football Foundation’s Play It Smart program in Atlanta.

In 2007, the Chick-fil-A Bowl became the only organization in the country to completely fund the national Play It Smart program for an entire public school system. Since that time, the Bowl has contributed a total of $900,000 to fund the program in all nine City of Atlanta public high schools. The Play It Smart program provides an “academic coach” to work with students on a weekly basis. The goals of the program are to help keep the students in school, help get their grades up, encourage them to take college entrance exams and transition them into college.

Over those five years, more than 3,000 students have participated in the program with positive and continually improving results.

In the academic year 2010-11, Play It Smart students graduated at a rate of 95.6% compared to 66.3% for their peers. On average, 96.4% of Play It Smart students completed the SAT or ACT and 92.7% applied to college.

“This is a program that we really believe in because it gets results. It makes a difference,” said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO. “Our goal is to be a positive and meaningful influence in our community and we hope our continued support for the Play It Smart program can be an example for others to follow.”

Since the Play It Smart program has been operating in Atlanta Public Schools, the overall number of graduates has increased from 2,602 in 2007 to 3,201 in 2010. The percentage of students matriculating to a four-year college has increased from 24% in 2007 to 30.7% in 2010, according to the Governor’s Office of Academic Achievement.

“The Chick-fil-A Bowl’s involvement has helped make the Atlanta Play It Smart program the marquee program in the nation,” said Jeff Beggs, athletic director for Atlanta Public Schools. “They are giving us the tools we need to really make a difference in the lives of these young people. The results speak for themselves, and they’re phenomenal.”

The Chick-fil-A Bowl’s sponsorship of Play It Smart is one philanthropic program of many that has made it college football’s most charitable bowl game.

In total, the Bowl has disbursed more than $7.2 million in charity and scholarship since 2002. This will mark the fifth straight year the Chick-fil-A Bowl has provided more than $1 million in charitable and scholarship donations.

Other initiatives under the Chick-fil-A Bowl’s charitable giving platform include:

• WinShape Homes – The Chick-fil-A Bowl’s annual contribution of $381,000 is the equivalent of the support needed to operate two long-term foster care homes for an entire year.

• Endowed Scholarships – The Chick-fil-A Bowl annually creates a $100,000 endowed scholarship at each university that plays in its game. Since 2006, total established endowments are currently at $1.1 million.

• Lions Lighthouse for the Blind – Each year, the Chick-fil-A Bowl donates $50,000 to help provide corrective eyewear and surgeries for those in need in Georgia. The Georgia Lions Club was the Bowl’s original charity dating back to 1968.

• Sustainability – In 2010, the Chick-fil-A Bowl created and hosted a Sustainability Summit for 14 university athletic departments in Atlanta and the Southeast to help educate and inspire a more active approach to sustainability within college athletics.

• Hall of Fame – In 2010, the Chick-fil-A Bowl made a one-time donation of $5 million to help relocate the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta and is continuing to support the building of the new attraction in its home city.

“The support we have been given in Atlanta is a big reason for our success and we feel obligated to give back at the highest levels,” said Chick-fil-A Bowl Chairman Daryl Evans. “We are committed to this program and to growing our overall charitable giving platform. Committed to being a leader in our industry. Committed to setting the standard of how a bowl game can and should be a positive impact in its community.”