Empower Retirement and Good Sports today announced a new program — in conjunction with the Kansas City Chiefs and the New England Patriots -- to help disadvantaged children get the equipment they need to play sports.

Good Sports, a nonprofit organization dedicated to youth sports programs, will receive thousands of pieces of sporting equipment through a grant from Empower. In collaboration with the Kansas City Chiefs Ambassadors and the New England Patriots the equipment will be packaged and distributed to kids in Kansas City and the Massachusetts communities of Lawrence and Lowell.

Youth programs served by the donated equipment will be nominated by Empower employees from the local areas. Through social media and internal corporate channels, employees will have the opportunity to recommend charities that are beneficiaries of the sporting goods. Empower has regional offices in Overland Park, Kansas and Andover, Mass.

“At Good Sports we strive to support programs that put children on the path to healthier, more active lifestyles,” says Melissa Harper, CEO of Good Sports. “Empower Retirement is generously supporting this work and equipping kids in Kansas City and New England with the resources to get active, while engaging their employees in the process. We are thrilled to partner with them and share this experience with their employees.”

“Empower Retirement is proud to partner with Good Sports and our NFL partners to lend a hand to help these kids so that they have a chance to play sports and learn the valuable life lessons that competition can offer,” said Stephen Jenks, Chief Marketing Officer for Empower Retirement. “Our associates in Kansas City and Andover are especially excited about the chance to help out in a really meaningful way.”

The NFL teams will help raise awareness of the new program through player appearances at volunteer events and social media outreach. The effort will launch later this week as Empower employees can begin the process of nominating organizations to receive the sports equipment.

Empower, the nation’s second-largest retirement services provider, is a sponsor of the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs.

About Good Sports

Good Sports gives all kids the lifelong benefits of sport and physical activity by providing equipment, apparel and footwear to those most in need. Since 2003, Good Sports has provided more than $17 million worth of equipment to more than 2,700 youth programs, impacting nearly three million kids. Good Sports has also been awarded a coveted 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, the nation’s largest charity evaluator, for sound fiscal management, transparency and accountability; is a Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance accredited charity; and is listed on Social Impact Exchange’s S&I 100, an index of top American nonprofits creating meaningful social impact. For more information on how you can support Good Sports, please visit www.goodsports.org

About Empower Retirement

Headquartered in metro Denver, Empower Retirement administers $430 billion in assets for more than 8 million participants. It is the nation’s second-largest retirement plan record keeper by total participants (Pensions & Investments, April, 2016). Empower serves all segments of the employer-sponsored retirement plan market: government 457 plans, small, midsize, and large corporate 401(k) clients, non-profit 403(b) entities and private-label recordkeeping clients. For more information, please visit www.empower-retirement.com.

Media Contact:

Stephen Gawlik – 303-737-0899 (office), 617-417-4408 (cell)

Learn More

To learn more about how we’re empowering plan sponsors and their participants to be more engaged in their retirement plans than ever before, call us at 800-719-9914.