Buffalo, N.Y. (July 8, 2025) – Project Play Western New York (WNY) announced that 17 organizations have received 2025 Summer Free Play Series grant awards totaling $77,000. The grants will provide summer programming for youth geared toward access to free play and sport sampling.
The Summer and Winter Free Play Series grants help provide Western New York youth opportunities to enjoy self-directed free play during school breaks, at no cost to families. Organizations that received grants are providing programming that best aligns with the mission of Project Play WNY, which is to work toward a community in which all children have the opportunity to be active through sports, regardless of zip code.
Each organization will offer a variety of programming, and dates vary by location. For example, Explore & More Children’s Museum will host lawn games, relay races and introductions to sports on Fridays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Canalside. For the Police Athletic League of Buffalo, the Summer Free Play grant will support its popular PlayStreets program, offering free outdoor sports clinics at parks throughout the city of Buffalo. Other locations may offer various sports, games, open gym, hiking, indoor skating and other non-instructional play.
You can learn about the specific Summer Free Play sites and programming at
www.projectplaywny.org/summer-free-play.
The 2025 Summer Free Play Series grant recipients are:
• A Better YOU Lifestyle, Inc – $5,000
• Azeem Family Foundation – $3,500
• Boys & Girls Club of Northern Chautauqua County – $4,000
• Buffalo Fine Arts Academy — $3,500
• Explore & More Children’s Museum – $2,000
• H.E.A.L. International – $5,000
• Jamestown Center City Development Corporation – $4,000
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• Lackawanna PBA – $6,000
• Love Alive Fellowship – $6,000
• Lockport Ice Arena & Sports Center – $2,000
• Metro Community Development Corporation — $5,500
• Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church – $5,000
• Police Athletic League of Buffalo – $5,000
• Resource Council of WNY, Inc. – $5,000
• Rural Outreach Center – $3,500
• Sensational Fun, Inc. — $7,000
• The Belle Center – $5,000
Reintroducing Free Play is one of eight strategies, or “plays,” of Project Play WNY, that seek to increase sport participation among urban, suburban and rural youth in Western New York. This strategy followed a comprehensive study about youth sports in the eight counties of Western New York titled, The State of Play: Western New York, commissioned by the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation in partnership with the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo and the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program.
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About Project Play WNY
Project Play WNY is driven and funded by the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation’s Youth Sports & Recreation focus area in partnership with the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. It is a collective impact model that includes more than 100 individuals who are focused on ensuring all WNY kids have the opportunity to be active through sport. For more information, visit projectplaywny.org.
About the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo
For more than a century, the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo has enhanced and encouraged long term philanthropy in the Western New York community. A 501 (c)(3) organization, the Community Foundation’s mission is: Connecting people, ideas and resources to improve lives in Western New York. Established in 1919, the Community Foundation has made the most of the generosity of individuals, families, foundations and organizations who entrust charitable assets to the Community Foundation’s care. Learn more at cfgb.org.
About the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation.
The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation is a grantmaking organization dedicated primarily to sustained investment in the quality of life of the people of Southeast Michigan and Western New York. The two areas reflect the devotion of Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. to his hometown of Detroit and greater Buffalo, home of his beloved Buffalo Bills NFL team. Prior to his passing in 2014, Mr. Wilson provided that a significant share of his estate be used to continue a life-long generosity of spirit by funding the Foundation that bears his name. Based in Detroit, the Foundation began with a grantmaking capacity of $1.2 billion over a 20-year period, which expires January 8, 2035. This structure is consistent with Mr. Wilson’s desire for the Foundation’s impact to be immediate, substantial, measurable, and overseen by those who knew him best. For more information visit www.rcwjrf.org.