THE STEVE PATTERSON AWARD
FOR EXECLLENCE IN SPORTS PHILANTHROPY - WINNERS

2010 Award Winners:

U.S. Soccer Foundation

(Pictured above, L-R: Carlette Patterson, Ed Foster-Simeon, President & CEO, U.S. Soccer Foundation and Fred Mann, Assistant Vice President, Communications at Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)

The U.S. Soccer Foundation is the major charitable arm of soccer in the United States. Established in 1994, the Foundation has distributed more than $51 million to groups across the country, supporting the development of 1,100 fields and reaching more than 4.9 million total players. The Foundation uses soccer as a tool for social change and, in doing so, focuses its efforts on supporting programs and field-building projects that improve the health and well-being of children.

Its Soccer for Success program provides free after-school soccer programming for at-risk, urban youth in grades K–8, offering a safe environment to exercise, work with mentors, and develop important life skills.

The U.S. Soccer Foundation's Passback Program is a community service initiative that collects and distributes new and gently used soccer equipment, providing children and organizations across the globe with a chance to play and learn the game.

To build upon these efforts, the U.S. Soccer Foundation holds a series of free soccer clinics across the U.S. and is partnering with the National Alliance for Hispanic Health to provide free family health screenings at each Tour stop.

The Foundation also organizes an annual Urban Soccer Symposium – a national event designed to help develop new programs and strengthen existing organizations committed to using soccer as a tool for positive youth development in under-resourced communities.

By supporting the development of safe playing fields and offering soccer programs that provide participants with mentoring, tutoring, and nutritional guidance, the U.S. Soccer Foundation is working to ensure that children develop not only as athletes, but as people.

The Dikembe Mutombo Foundation

(Pictured above, L-R: Joe Marx, Senior Communications Officer, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Carlette Patterson, Dr.Mimi Kanda, Senior Advisor, Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, David Colby, Vice President of Research and Evaluation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, President and CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Dikembe Mutombo, Alisha Greenberg, Director, Patterson Award, Fred Mann, Assistant Vice President of Communications, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)

More than $24 million dollars has been distributed since the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation was formed in 1997. Mutombo is a humanitarian who is committed to improving the quality of life for people in his native Democratic Republic of the Congo.

After playing basketball at Georgetown University, he played 18 seasons in the NBA and was Defensive Player of the Year four times before retiring in 2009. Giving back to his homeland remains a huge priority for Mutombo. In 2007, the Foundation opened the Biamba Marie Mutombo hospital in the Congo. It is a state-of-the-art complex that has brought modern medicine to the undeveloped area where he grew up. The hospital has a staff of over 400 employees and provides care to close to 20,000 patients of all ages each year.

Mutombo's efforts as the NBA Global Ambassador, board member for UNICEF and the National Constitution Center and former spokesman for the international relief agency CARE have earned him numerous accolades. Mutombo has been the recipient of the President's Service Award, J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, and the National Civil Rights Museum Sports Legacy Award; he has also been inducted into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame.

2009 Award Winners:

The Marvin Lewis Community Fund

The Marvin Lewis Community Fund was honored during a pre-game presentation on the field prior to the Cincinnati Bengals pre-season game on August 27, 2009. Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals Head Coach and Carlette Patterson.

The Red Sox Foundation

The Red Sox Foundation was awarded the 2009 Steve Patterson Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy during a pre-game reception at Fenway Park. (from left:) Greg Johnson, Executive Director, the Sports Philanthropy Project; Larry Lucchino, President/Chief Executive Officer, Boston Red Sox; John W. Henry, Principal Owner, Boston Red Sox; Mike Egan, Partner, Boston Red Sox; Carlette Patterson, President, Patterson Sport Ventures; and Fred Mann, Assistant Vice President of Communications, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

2008 Award Winners:

San Francisco Giants Community Fund

Accepting the 2008 Steve Patterson Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy: Giants Community Fund Executive Director Sue Petersen and San Francisco Giants Executive Vice President and COO Larry Baer

The Steve Nash Foundation

The Steve Nash Foundation was honored as the 2008 individual athlete award recipient during a November 20th on-court ceremony at U.S. Airways Center, home of the Phoenix Suns. Steve Nash, The Phoenix Suns and Carlette Patterson.

2007 Award Winners:

Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation

Center Court presentation to the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation on November 3rd. Front row, L-R: Grizzlies President of Business Operations Andy Dolich; Grizzlies local owner Staley Cates; Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation Executive Director Jenny Turner-Koltnow; Carlette Patterson, CEO of Patterson Sports Ventures; SPP Executive Director Greg Johnson; RWJF Deputy Director of Communications Fred Mann; and RWKF Senior Communications Officer Joe Marx.

The Moyer Foundation

Fred Mann, Carlette Patterson, Jamie Moyer and Greg Johnson during an on-field presentation to Jamie Moyer on behalf of the Moyer Foundation, in Philadelphia on August 27, 2007.

2006 Award Winners:

Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation

"We could not be more pleased to have received the Steve Patterson Sports Philanthropy Award. Receiving an award of this caliber is an important affirmation and incentive for us to continue our work to improve the lives of those most in need in our community here in Jacksonville. The spotlight that this award casts on our efforts will require and enable us to do even more, and for that we are grateful as well." Delores Barr Weaver, co-owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chair/CEO of the Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation and Peter Racine, Executive Director, Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation.

2005 Award Winners:

Philadelphia Eagles Youth Partnership

"I am deeply honored that the Eagles Youth Partnership was selected as the first recipient of the Steve Patterson Sports Philanthropy Award. We bring the same passion and strategic thought to our goals in the community as we do to our efforts on the playing field. In the end, both will join to be the legacy of the Philadelphia Eagles. This recognition is a thrill and an honor, and inspires us to reach even further." - Jeffrey Lurie, Chairman/CEO, Philadelphia Eagles. Carlette Patterson and Sarah Martinez-Helfman, Executive Director, Eagles Youth Partnership