The Foundation’s mission is to “support youth sports… done right”, which means providing the opportunity for youth to engage with positive adults, build character through their participation in sports and to have adequate equipment and facilities.  Our vision is that all youth in Saint Louis, Missouri have the opportunity to have a positive, life-impacting youth sports experience which leads to good health and the belief in the benefits of education.

Each year, approximately 10,000 youth participate in organized, non-scholastic, volunteer led, sports activities in the City of Saint Louis, ranging from football to baseball, cheerleading, soccer, step teams, boxing and more.  Youth from ages 5 to 15 are actively engaged in productive, leisure time pursuits that for many provide the primary source of structure and exposure to positive adult role models in their lives.

In the summer of 2006, one such program, the North County Raiders football team, experienced a tremendous loss when their playing equipment was stolen.  If not for the commitment of several community members who took on the task of raising funds to replace the equipment, this one senseless act could have ended the team’s season before it began.

Unfortunately in some cases, the lack of access to a few hundred dollars may keep a program serving hundreds of youth from being successful.  Few, if any, of Saint Louis’ youth sports organizations have the resources to independently respond to a loss such as the Raiders suffered.  Vision rich, but resource dry, many of the City youth sports organizations have the heart, the passion and the energy critical to providing positive sports opportunities, but they lack the organizational skills and business acumen to make the programs sustainable or simply don't have the time to focus on fundraising and training of staff and volunteers.  Many of these organizations don't have the capacity to respond to adversity and are not able to take advantage of opportunities, e.g. trips, tournaments etc., again, due to lack of funding.

Additionally, many urban teams are forced to play at inadequate, overused or under-maintained facilities.  Often they are outfitted in ill-fitting, outdated equipment and uniforms. The result is a negative impact on the quality of programs and an adverse effect on the pride and psyche of the participants.

The Raiders incident illustrated to The Y.E.S. Foundation Inc. just how fragile and vulnerable this invaluable community resource is and prompted the foundation to call together a diverse group of individuals who understand the value of organized sports play in the lives of many of our urban youth. This core group became the nucleus of a grassroots, community-based effort to establish The Y.E.S. Foundation Inc.