Family Support Center Assisted by Friends of the Utah Jazz

As part of its community outreach efforts, the Utah Jazz has collaborated with Friends of the Utah Jazz to aid nonprofit charitable organizations in the local community.  Throughout the season, each time Jazz players log an assist $20 will be donated to a specific charity on a monthly basis.

Jazz players logged 365 assists in December, generating $7,300 for the Family Support Center.   Earlier this month, Kevin O’Connor, general manager of the Jazz, presented a check to Diane Spencer, development director of the Family Support Center, and Kathy Cue, the agency’s business manager.

In 1977, Junior League of Salt Lake City and the Utah Association for Children’s Therapy collaborated to launch the Family Support Center in response to the community’s lack of short-time crisis care for children at risk of abuse.  Demand for Family Support Center services over the years eventually resulted in the creation of two additional facilities, and services have expanded to include family counseling, parenting education, stress management classes and prevention outreach programs.

Throughout the 2008-09 Jazz season, one community agency per month will be selected as a recipient of a Friends of the Utah Jazz donation.  During January, the team is raising money for Utah Federation for Youth’s Project Guuleysi, an after-school program that assists at-risk refugee children.