PPTC Grants Program: inaugural recipients

The Board of Prospect Park Track Club is pleased to announce the inaugural recipients of the PPTC Grants Program.

Prospect Park Youth Running Club will receive $1,000 for travel expenses. Serving runners in elementary school, PPYRC participates in cross country and track regional and national competitions each season. In under a decade of existence, PPYRC members have claimed 25 national championships, but several members have been unable to travel to these national meets because their families could not afford the cost.

P.S. 161 – The Crown School will receive $1,000 for apparel. The large majority of the school's students (grades 3-5) are at the poverty level, and thus are unable afford proper attire. Despite this, P.S. 161's track team has had success at city competitions in the past few years. This money will help the team's 20 members with the cost of shoes and uniforms.

Run4Fun, Inc. will receive $800 for apparel. Run4Fun is a non-competitive after-school running program with six Brooklyn locations. It is dedicated to promoting self-esteem, confidence and individualized coaching at each runner's level. The organization is printing singlets and t-shirts for its members, and this money will defray much of the cost.

Urban Dove Team Charter School will receive $1,000 for apparel. UD Team is an innovative high school for struggling 9th and 10th graders where every student is part of a team. This includes the after-school "Couch to 5K" club, several members of which are unable to afford proper apparel and shoes; this grant will help offset those costs.

Thank you to all who submitted applications. We received many more proposals than we had anticipated, and we had to make some tough decisions in determining which groups would receive funding.

Our next round of funding, targeting spring running programs, will open in January. At least half of the proceeds from our upcoming Turkey Trot will be earmarked for the three funding cycles in 2016!