October 15, 2025 • 20 mins
A single coach who guaranteed every kid real playing time changed Kevin Dunbar’s life—and now that ethos powers CFY’s county-wide movement to remove barriers for 15,000 young people. We dig into a simple promise with outsized results: if a child wants to play, learn water safety, or pursue college, money won’t stand in the way. With an endowment that covers operating costs, every donated dollar goes straight to a kid’s fees, gear, or scholarship—turning access today into leadership tomorrow.
We walk through the mechanics behind the mission: a pay-what-you-can model that preserves dignity, partnerships with schools and community policing that direct support where it’s needed most, and scholarships that send first-generation students to college with ongoing mentorship. Kevin shares how CFY scaled from three to fifteen football and cheer programs across Pinellas County by listening to local leaders, keeping metrics tight, and celebrating wins publicly so donors, families, and teams see the impact. The result is a flywheel of trust: fund, deliver, measure, and share.
Technology keeps the engine humming. A robust HubSpot-powered site lets programs request grants, students apply for scholarships, and supporters plug in instantly. Social media moments—like “big check” presentations alongside championship coaches—aren’t PR fluff; they’re signals that access is real and repeatable. We also unpack how other communities can adapt this model: define your promise, reduce friction at registration, align with credible partners, and track outcomes that actually change lives. Want to be part of an approach that turns a $250 gap into a lifetime of possibility? Visit cfypenellis.org and follow CFY Penellas on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. If this conversation moves you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help more people discover the power of access.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:12):
Welcome to Idea Gen TV.
Today I am honored andprivileged to have with us Mr.
Kevin Dunbar, CFY PanellistExecutive Director.
Kevin, welcome.
SPEAKER_01 (00:25):
Thanks, George.
Appreciate you having me here.
SPEAKER_00 (00:28):
You know, Kevin, uh, you're doing so much to change
the world.
You're leading the way asexecutive director at CFY.
And I'd like to begin for ourglobal leadership summit to ask
you if you can tell our globalaudience, the millions of people
that watch this interview, tellus a little bit about the
incredible mission of CFY andwhat inspired you to dedicate
(00:52):
your career to this cause.
And what impact have you seenfirsthand in the community
you're serving?
SPEAKER_01 (01:02):
Well, thanks, George.
I think I think it's a greatquestion and it really sets up
what um uh what we do here atCFY.
Uh we are basically looking tobreak down every barrier to make
sure that every child has anaccess to athletics, water
safety, and um we offer a lot ofeducation opportunities.
(01:23):
But our bread and butter isreally based around um
athletics.
And as I say, we make sure thatevery child uh has a complete
opportunity to play whateversport they choose to play in.
Our organization, our board oftrustees, uh all feel that the
value that a child learns beingaround good positive uh mentors,
(01:48):
role models, uh learning how towin and lose uh correctly, and
being part of a team are allvalues that really help to
establish the foundation uh foryoung people as they assimilate
into adulthood.
And so we are very pleased andblessed to be behind that.
(02:08):
Uh, how do we do it?
It's pretty simple.
We get the businessphilanthropic community behind
this mission.
Um, we boast an endowment that'slarge enough that it offsets our
operating costs.
So when people provide theirfunds to us, they are going
immediately directly intosupport a child.
(02:28):
Um, we see it firsthand by goingout and to uh we are constantly
interacting with the programs.
We don't we don't uh operate anyprograms, we just make sure all
the programs happen.
As an example, here in PinellasCounty, there's currently 17
different football and cheerprograms in the county.
We are providing support for 15of them.
(02:50):
And the other two we have begunconversations with.
Four years ago, we weresupporting three football and
cheer programs.
So we are really going out andwe're making a difference and
we're finding uh finding um theyouth so we can serve.
Uh, on the education front, weare actually going out and
working directly with the uhwith all the high schools, both
(03:13):
public and private in thecommunity, because like the
youth athletic programs, theyknow their children and they
know the impact.
And so we're working with themto identify the kids that if we
provide them with a scholarship,that this is going to be
impactful and it's gonna belife-changing for them by making
this opportunity um available tothem.
(03:34):
So last year we gave away 39 uhpost-secondary scholarships.
18 of them were the first onesin their family to go to
college.
To me, that's pretty significantbecause we are setting these
youth up for success.
Uh, when we talk to them, whichwe stay in contact with them,
what we're finding out is manyof them they had no idea what
(03:58):
their next opportunity was goingto be.
By having this, we have set themup and established them for
being being a success.
And we think that that's just animportant piece of what we do,
breaking down the barriers tomake sure that every child has
the opportunity to besuccessful.
SPEAKER_00 (04:15):
You know, Kevin, that's what it's just so
incredible to hear, first ofall, about your leadership,
because it all starts withleadership.
It starts with connecting thedots, and that's what you've
done in your entire career.
I've watched, I've seen, andI've stand in awe, really, of
(04:37):
all that you're doing today atCFY.
And so, youth sports, such apowerful tool, such an
incredibly powerful tool forteaching teamwork, like you
said, leadership and resilience.
Kevin, how do you see theselessons translating beyond the
field, especially in shapingcommunity and business leaders
(05:02):
of the future?
SPEAKER_01 (05:04):
So, the kind of the real interesting piece is when I
look at many of the people thatget involved with us, or in
particular our board oftrustees, uh, which there are 21
of those, um they have beenimpacted by a coach, by a
mentor, by teammates, where theyhave played in their youth, and
(05:27):
it has helped to establish whothey are today.
And with everything we do, wehave a common phrase that we
always use.
And that is, as we talk totoday's youth, when you have the
opportunity, somewhere down theroad, it may be 15, 20 years
down the road, pay it forward.
And that is what the people thatare involved with us are looking
(05:50):
to do.
They are looking to pay itforward.
We provide a mechanism so thatpeople who do want to impact a
child have the opportunity towork through us, our processes
and systems to make sure thatour dollars are supporting the
right child, the right way, andused correctly so that we are
(06:12):
providing that exact opportunitythat many of our people uh had.
Um, I always think back, I was13 years old, I was uh my little
league baseball team.
I was probably uh there were 13of us on the team.
I probably at that point I wasprobably the ninth best player
on the team.
And back then you used to stackup your left fielders and your
(06:35):
right fielders because you hadto play two innings, and that's
what coaches would do to win.
Well, I played for Mr.
Tillotson and he didn't believethat.
Every child on his team wasgoing to play at least three
innings every game, and everyother game he was gonna play
four innings, and once duringthe course of the year, you were
gonna at least play a wholegame.
(06:57):
Um, we were a 500 team, but heinstilled in me the value of
being part of a team, having anadult that believes in you, and
giving you the opportunity to goout and be successful, and
knowing that if you learn thefundamentals of the of the
sport, which ultimately will beyou also learn the fundamentals
(07:19):
of life, you are going to bepositioned and set up for
success.
And success will be what youchoose to want to make it, but
you will have the opportunity todo that.
And so for us, for us here, thatis our um that is how we're all
stroking.
That is how we're all movingforward within the three pillars
(07:42):
of support that we provide tomake sure that each child, and
there's about 15,000 of themthat we're impacting, have that
opportunity to go out and dothat and be successful.
SPEAKER_00 (07:55):
You know, speechless.
I mean, it's truly what amission.
And you know, what I see here isthat passion and commitment that
you have, and and that's again,I've seen it uh in your career
and throughout your career,knowing you now for over for a
long time, I'll just say we'veknown each other for a long
time.
We won't date ourselves a fewyears, a few years, a few years.
(08:17):
And how Kevin, do you approachleading an organization that
must both inspire its donors anddeliver measurable, concrete
results for families?
SPEAKER_01 (08:33):
I think how you do it is is is you you live the
message.
Um, to me, what we do here, um,this is if I sound excited, it's
because I enjoy it, I enjoydoing this.
You know, I've had that careerthat's been the grind where I've
had almost 600 souls that I wasresponsible for managing, uh,
(08:56):
and you know, 40, 50 milliondollar a year budget.
But the passion that you learn,being involved in particular
with youth athletics, or makinga difference in the life of a
child, or having a child comeback to you and thank you for
that difference that you'vemade, um, they can't pay you for
that.
And they shouldn't pay you forthat.
(09:18):
That is just what you do andwhat you want to make um want to
make happen.
And to me, it starts withenergizing.
In our case, we call it the CFYnetwork of the people who come
out and support us, and they getit and they get the mission and
they want to be involved.
If anything, we have a we'rewe're we're starting to run into
(09:41):
too many people who want to beinvolved now because they really
want to go out and want it, wantto do things either to partner
with us, um, to attend eventsthat we do, uh, but we're very
strategic and we were strategichow we rolled out our growth to
make sure that we weresuccessful.
Um, when we go into thedifferent communities in
Pinellas County, and I'll use2024, we went into St.
(10:04):
Petersburg.
Um, we're working directly withum community policing in St.
Petersburg, Chief Holloway.
Um, we're not trying to figureout where their needs are, they
know what their needs are, theyknow how we can impact their
community by what we do.
And so they are talking to usabout where their needs are,
introducing us to the correctpeople.
(10:25):
And we are going out and makinga phenomenal uh presence.
Um, we are taking our peoplearound.
Uh I'll let you in on a littlesomething this uh this Monday,
just to kind of show you some ofthe stuff that we do.
We're doing a big checkpresentation at one of the
programs.
It's a way for me to get thenotice, you know, kind of notice
(10:46):
out of here's the giving thatwe're doing, but also reminding
the programs about the impactthat we're making and then
reminding my board.
And to me, that's a constanteducation process.
Well, we're we're fortunatethere's um a lot of people who
believe in what we're doing.
Um, I'm gonna have um uh the thehead coach of the 2003 Super
(11:07):
Bowl champion, Tampa BayBuccaneers, John Gruden, is
gonna be hanging out with me,providing providing that um that
that check opportunity to theseprograms.
And it inspires Coach every timehe comes out and does one of
these with me.
And so that is all part of kindof the the how do you keep
(11:28):
everybody energized andeverybody going, but it's the
passion about making adifference in the life of a
child.
SPEAKER_00 (11:36):
And that there's uh I think you hit on you know the
secret to one of the secrets tohappiness is giving and
supporting and helping.
Um, and you're doing all of theabove, and that's where um
there's no dollars that couldever be uh in the place of that
when someone comes back and saysthank you, and the impact that
(12:01):
you know CFY is making to theseorganizations that represent so
many families, not just theathletes, but the entire family
benefits from this.
So it's kind of like you can't,the reward is so it's beyond you
know what you can imagine.
(12:21):
And I and I hear that, and I dohear your enthusiasm, Kevin.
That's extraordinary.
And so on that same thread,access, inclusion, that's all at
the heart of CFY's mission.
What can other communities do,organizations, etc., to learn
(12:42):
how to take your model andinfuse their model with these
types of opportunities for youngpeople across the nation and
across the world.
SPEAKER_01 (12:54):
So I think I think what you have to do is you have
to you have to define what it isthat you're looking to do, the
impact that you're you'rewilling, you're looking to make,
and then assimilate that intowhat is our messaging going to
be?
Our messaging happens to beaccess for access for all,
(13:14):
regardless of your financialability to to uh to pay.
And we don't care, as long asyou come from Pinellas County,
that's all that matters to us.
And you're we know we use theTitle I school model to kind of
identify financial need.
We make it pretty simple, and wealso don't make it an
(13:36):
in-your-face difficult process.
Uh, we make it so that you havethe ability to access.
So um, I'll use a youth sportprogram example.
You know, it's$300 to pay toplay, and a family has two or
three kids, and they come intoregistration and they say to the
program, uh I want my child toplay the play, but I can't
(14:00):
afford$300.
We ask the program to do onething.
Ask them what you can afford.
And so if they come back andsay, Well, I could afford$50,
that's fine.
You got skin in the game.
And we think it's important thateverybody has a little bit of
skin in the game.
We pay the other$250 of theregistration fee directly to the
(14:22):
program to make sure that thatchild has every opportunity to
go out and be successful, tolearn the proper way, to learn
all the values of what youthathletics has to provide,
whether it is a so it is agirls' softball program, it's a
boys' baseball program, whateverthe program is, whatever they
(14:43):
choose to want to be involvedwith.
And as I said earlier, you know,that for us, there's over 50
programs that we are providingsupport to in terms of making
that happen.
SPEAKER_00 (14:55):
And there you go.
And that's it.
That's the model.
That it's just incredible.
That that example of you know,you supplement the 250 uh for
the registration fee, whichultimately empowers that young
student athlete to be able toparticipate.
That's a game, like you want touse this analogy, it's a game
(15:15):
changer.
Certainly is.
Literally and figuratively.
And so, Kevin, we're in this,it's happening at warp speed,
this incredible technologicaladvancement.
It's been likened to somethingwell beyond the industrial
revolution in terms of AI, etc.
How do you see technology,partnerships, andor public
(15:40):
awareness campaigns helping toassist, expand the reach and
community sustainability ofyouth sports and specifically
the programs like you support atCFY.
SPEAKER_01 (15:57):
So for us, it's a couple things.
Uh, we are very aggressive uhwith social media.
Again, I mentioned earlier we'redoing a big check.
Part of why we're doing a bigcheck is it's an optic to put
out on social media.
Uh, it's something to be able totell our donors, our programs,
things like that.
Here's what we do, and it's howwe make things happen.
The other thing is a lot of whatwe do, uh, we're a small group,
(16:21):
uh, but um we have a very uhrobust uh web spot uh website.
Um we are just in the process offinishing up, transitioning to
the latest technology, HubSpot,and really building our website
so that you can be engaged, getinvolved, everything's there,
(16:43):
all of our information's thereso that we can connect with you
and you can connect with us.
Um, and it's everything from ourprograms are able to do grants
to our donors are able to findout the newest and latest
information.
Our scholarship candidates canapply.
People can look at what it meansand what does it take to do a uh
(17:06):
uh to be involved with our watersafety program and seeing all
those kinds of pieces that ithappens.
But front and center is youknow, we we don't have a
storefront.
Um, our office on occasion,maybe twice a month, someone
will come through here, buteverything is done via
(17:27):
technology um uh you know forus, and we all have all the
newest and latest uh in terms ofthose opportunities.
And one of the cool things withus is uh, you know, things could
be cash or they could be inkind.
We have a great um IT providerthat works with us um and
doesn't charge us for that uhbecause they believe in the
(17:50):
mission.
Uh, we also have a marketing andwebsite company that literally
charges us about 20 cents on adollar to provide the services
because they believe in themission to make sure that we are
able to have the current robusttechnology that's gonna support
such a great mission about whatwe're doing.
SPEAKER_00 (18:14):
And so, Kevin, it's hard to believe, but we are
concluding this interview, andthe inspiration is beyond what
you can imagine.
For those, again, millions offolks that will watch this
interview on Idea Gen TV as partof the Idea Gen Global
Leadership Summit.
I want to thank you, but I alsowant to make sure before we
(18:35):
conclude that you are able tohighlight how folks can find out
more about the work you're doingat CFY.
SPEAKER_01 (18:44):
So the bet so the best way is two ways, and it
kind of concludes with that likethe last thing I talk about.
Our website, uh cfypenellis.org,or our handle on uh Facebook's.
Um we're on Facebook, we are onuh LinkedIn, and we are also um
(19:05):
we're also on Instagram, is uhCFY Penellus.
Uh that is where everything wedo operates through.
SPEAKER_00 (19:14):
Kevin Dunbar, executive director, leader.
You are a leadership defined, myfriend.
Leader of CFY Pinellus.
I've seen it.
You're changing the world.
It's an incredible model thatyou've incorporated and that
you're building upon each andevery day.
And it's just incredible to seehow many lives you're helping to
(19:39):
accelerate into the future.
Thank you so very much.
SPEAKER_01 (19:43):
Well, thank you, George.
And for you know, for me, again,the passion about making a
difference in the life of achild, and almost as equally as
important as being able to callyou one of my dearest friends.
SPEAKER_00 (19:55):
Well, right back at you, my friend.
That's right.
That's right.
It's all about family.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01 (20:02):
All right, appreciate it.
Welcome to Idea Gen TV.
Today I am honored andprivileged to have with us Mr.
Kevin Dunbar, CFY PanellistExecutive Director.
Kevin, welcome.
SPEAKER_01 (00:25):
Thanks, George.
Appreciate you having me here.
SPEAKER_00 (00:28):
You know, Kevin, uh, you're doing so much to change
the world.
You're leading the way asexecutive director at CFY.
And I'd like to begin for ourglobal leadership summit to ask
you if you can tell our globalaudience, the millions of people
that watch this interview, tellus a little bit about the
incredible mission of CFY andwhat inspired you to dedicate
(00:52):
your career to this cause.
And what impact have you seenfirsthand in the community
you're serving?
SPEAKER_01 (01:02):
Well, thanks, George.
I think I think it's a greatquestion and it really sets up
what um uh what we do here atCFY.
Uh we are basically looking tobreak down every barrier to make
sure that every child has anaccess to athletics, water
safety, and um we offer a lot ofeducation opportunities.
(01:23):
But our bread and butter isreally based around um
athletics.
And as I say, we make sure thatevery child uh has a complete
opportunity to play whateversport they choose to play in.
Our organization, our board oftrustees, uh all feel that the
value that a child learns beingaround good positive uh mentors,
(01:48):
role models, uh learning how towin and lose uh correctly, and
being part of a team are allvalues that really help to
establish the foundation uh foryoung people as they assimilate
into adulthood.
And so we are very pleased andblessed to be behind that.
(02:08):
Uh, how do we do it?
It's pretty simple.
We get the businessphilanthropic community behind
this mission.
Um, we boast an endowment that'slarge enough that it offsets our
operating costs.
So when people provide theirfunds to us, they are going
immediately directly intosupport a child.
(02:28):
Um, we see it firsthand by goingout and to uh we are constantly
interacting with the programs.
We don't we don't uh operate anyprograms, we just make sure all
the programs happen.
As an example, here in PinellasCounty, there's currently 17
different football and cheerprograms in the county.
We are providing support for 15of them.
(02:50):
And the other two we have begunconversations with.
Four years ago, we weresupporting three football and
cheer programs.
So we are really going out andwe're making a difference and
we're finding uh finding um theyouth so we can serve.
Uh, on the education front, weare actually going out and
working directly with the uhwith all the high schools, both
(03:13):
public and private in thecommunity, because like the
youth athletic programs, theyknow their children and they
know the impact.
And so we're working with themto identify the kids that if we
provide them with a scholarship,that this is going to be
impactful and it's gonna belife-changing for them by making
this opportunity um available tothem.
(03:34):
So last year we gave away 39 uhpost-secondary scholarships.
18 of them were the first onesin their family to go to
college.
To me, that's pretty significantbecause we are setting these
youth up for success.
Uh, when we talk to them, whichwe stay in contact with them,
what we're finding out is manyof them they had no idea what
(03:58):
their next opportunity was goingto be.
By having this, we have set themup and established them for
being being a success.
And we think that that's just animportant piece of what we do,
breaking down the barriers tomake sure that every child has
the opportunity to besuccessful.
SPEAKER_00 (04:15):
You know, Kevin, that's what it's just so
incredible to hear, first ofall, about your leadership,
because it all starts withleadership.
It starts with connecting thedots, and that's what you've
done in your entire career.
I've watched, I've seen, andI've stand in awe, really, of
(04:37):
all that you're doing today atCFY.
And so, youth sports, such apowerful tool, such an
incredibly powerful tool forteaching teamwork, like you
said, leadership and resilience.
Kevin, how do you see theselessons translating beyond the
field, especially in shapingcommunity and business leaders
(05:02):
of the future?
SPEAKER_01 (05:04):
So, the kind of the real interesting piece is when I
look at many of the people thatget involved with us, or in
particular our board oftrustees, uh, which there are 21
of those, um they have beenimpacted by a coach, by a
mentor, by teammates, where theyhave played in their youth, and
(05:27):
it has helped to establish whothey are today.
And with everything we do, wehave a common phrase that we
always use.
And that is, as we talk totoday's youth, when you have the
opportunity, somewhere down theroad, it may be 15, 20 years
down the road, pay it forward.
And that is what the people thatare involved with us are looking
(05:50):
to do.
They are looking to pay itforward.
We provide a mechanism so thatpeople who do want to impact a
child have the opportunity towork through us, our processes
and systems to make sure thatour dollars are supporting the
right child, the right way, andused correctly so that we are
(06:12):
providing that exact opportunitythat many of our people uh had.
Um, I always think back, I was13 years old, I was uh my little
league baseball team.
I was probably uh there were 13of us on the team.
I probably at that point I wasprobably the ninth best player
on the team.
And back then you used to stackup your left fielders and your
(06:35):
right fielders because you hadto play two innings, and that's
what coaches would do to win.
Well, I played for Mr.
Tillotson and he didn't believethat.
Every child on his team wasgoing to play at least three
innings every game, and everyother game he was gonna play
four innings, and once duringthe course of the year, you were
gonna at least play a wholegame.
(06:57):
Um, we were a 500 team, but heinstilled in me the value of
being part of a team, having anadult that believes in you, and
giving you the opportunity to goout and be successful, and
knowing that if you learn thefundamentals of the of the
sport, which ultimately will beyou also learn the fundamentals
(07:19):
of life, you are going to bepositioned and set up for
success.
And success will be what youchoose to want to make it, but
you will have the opportunity todo that.
And so for us, for us here, thatis our um that is how we're all
stroking.
That is how we're all movingforward within the three pillars
(07:42):
of support that we provide tomake sure that each child, and
there's about 15,000 of themthat we're impacting, have that
opportunity to go out and dothat and be successful.
SPEAKER_00 (07:55):
You know, speechless.
I mean, it's truly what amission.
And you know, what I see here isthat passion and commitment that
you have, and and that's again,I've seen it uh in your career
and throughout your career,knowing you now for over for a
long time, I'll just say we'veknown each other for a long
time.
We won't date ourselves a fewyears, a few years, a few years.
(08:17):
And how Kevin, do you approachleading an organization that
must both inspire its donors anddeliver measurable, concrete
results for families?
SPEAKER_01 (08:33):
I think how you do it is is is you you live the
message.
Um, to me, what we do here, um,this is if I sound excited, it's
because I enjoy it, I enjoydoing this.
You know, I've had that careerthat's been the grind where I've
had almost 600 souls that I wasresponsible for managing, uh,
(08:56):
and you know, 40, 50 milliondollar a year budget.
But the passion that you learn,being involved in particular
with youth athletics, or makinga difference in the life of a
child, or having a child comeback to you and thank you for
that difference that you'vemade, um, they can't pay you for
that.
And they shouldn't pay you forthat.
(09:18):
That is just what you do andwhat you want to make um want to
make happen.
And to me, it starts withenergizing.
In our case, we call it the CFYnetwork of the people who come
out and support us, and they getit and they get the mission and
they want to be involved.
If anything, we have a we'rewe're we're starting to run into
(09:41):
too many people who want to beinvolved now because they really
want to go out and want it, wantto do things either to partner
with us, um, to attend eventsthat we do, uh, but we're very
strategic and we were strategichow we rolled out our growth to
make sure that we weresuccessful.
Um, when we go into thedifferent communities in
Pinellas County, and I'll use2024, we went into St.
(10:04):
Petersburg.
Um, we're working directly withum community policing in St.
Petersburg, Chief Holloway.
Um, we're not trying to figureout where their needs are, they
know what their needs are, theyknow how we can impact their
community by what we do.
And so they are talking to usabout where their needs are,
introducing us to the correctpeople.
(10:25):
And we are going out and makinga phenomenal uh presence.
Um, we are taking our peoplearound.
Uh I'll let you in on a littlesomething this uh this Monday,
just to kind of show you some ofthe stuff that we do.
We're doing a big checkpresentation at one of the
programs.
It's a way for me to get thenotice, you know, kind of notice
(10:46):
out of here's the giving thatwe're doing, but also reminding
the programs about the impactthat we're making and then
reminding my board.
And to me, that's a constanteducation process.
Well, we're we're fortunatethere's um a lot of people who
believe in what we're doing.
Um, I'm gonna have um uh the thehead coach of the 2003 Super
(11:07):
Bowl champion, Tampa BayBuccaneers, John Gruden, is
gonna be hanging out with me,providing providing that um that
that check opportunity to theseprograms.
And it inspires Coach every timehe comes out and does one of
these with me.
And so that is all part of kindof the the how do you keep
(11:28):
everybody energized andeverybody going, but it's the
passion about making adifference in the life of a
child.
SPEAKER_00 (11:36):
And that there's uh I think you hit on you know the
secret to one of the secrets tohappiness is giving and
supporting and helping.
Um, and you're doing all of theabove, and that's where um
there's no dollars that couldever be uh in the place of that
when someone comes back and saysthank you, and the impact that
(12:01):
you know CFY is making to theseorganizations that represent so
many families, not just theathletes, but the entire family
benefits from this.
So it's kind of like you can't,the reward is so it's beyond you
know what you can imagine.
(12:21):
And I and I hear that, and I dohear your enthusiasm, Kevin.
That's extraordinary.
And so on that same thread,access, inclusion, that's all at
the heart of CFY's mission.
What can other communities do,organizations, etc., to learn
(12:42):
how to take your model andinfuse their model with these
types of opportunities for youngpeople across the nation and
across the world.
SPEAKER_01 (12:54):
So I think I think what you have to do is you have
to you have to define what it isthat you're looking to do, the
impact that you're you'rewilling, you're looking to make,
and then assimilate that intowhat is our messaging going to
be?
Our messaging happens to beaccess for access for all,
(13:14):
regardless of your financialability to to uh to pay.
And we don't care, as long asyou come from Pinellas County,
that's all that matters to us.
And you're we know we use theTitle I school model to kind of
identify financial need.
We make it pretty simple, and wealso don't make it an
(13:36):
in-your-face difficult process.
Uh, we make it so that you havethe ability to access.
So um, I'll use a youth sportprogram example.
You know, it's$300 to pay toplay, and a family has two or
three kids, and they come intoregistration and they say to the
program, uh I want my child toplay the play, but I can't
(14:00):
afford$300.
We ask the program to do onething.
Ask them what you can afford.
And so if they come back andsay, Well, I could afford$50,
that's fine.
You got skin in the game.
And we think it's important thateverybody has a little bit of
skin in the game.
We pay the other$250 of theregistration fee directly to the
(14:22):
program to make sure that thatchild has every opportunity to
go out and be successful, tolearn the proper way, to learn
all the values of what youthathletics has to provide,
whether it is a so it is agirls' softball program, it's a
boys' baseball program, whateverthe program is, whatever they
(14:43):
choose to want to be involvedwith.
And as I said earlier, you know,that for us, there's over 50
programs that we are providingsupport to in terms of making
that happen.
SPEAKER_00 (14:55):
And there you go.
And that's it.
That's the model.
That it's just incredible.
That that example of you know,you supplement the 250 uh for
the registration fee, whichultimately empowers that young
student athlete to be able toparticipate.
That's a game, like you want touse this analogy, it's a game
(15:15):
changer.
Certainly is.
Literally and figuratively.
And so, Kevin, we're in this,it's happening at warp speed,
this incredible technologicaladvancement.
It's been likened to somethingwell beyond the industrial
revolution in terms of AI, etc.
How do you see technology,partnerships, andor public
(15:40):
awareness campaigns helping toassist, expand the reach and
community sustainability ofyouth sports and specifically
the programs like you support atCFY.
SPEAKER_01 (15:57):
So for us, it's a couple things.
Uh, we are very aggressive uhwith social media.
Again, I mentioned earlier we'redoing a big check.
Part of why we're doing a bigcheck is it's an optic to put
out on social media.
Uh, it's something to be able totell our donors, our programs,
things like that.
Here's what we do, and it's howwe make things happen.
The other thing is a lot of whatwe do, uh, we're a small group,
(16:21):
uh, but um we have a very uhrobust uh web spot uh website.
Um we are just in the process offinishing up, transitioning to
the latest technology, HubSpot,and really building our website
so that you can be engaged, getinvolved, everything's there,
(16:43):
all of our information's thereso that we can connect with you
and you can connect with us.
Um, and it's everything from ourprograms are able to do grants
to our donors are able to findout the newest and latest
information.
Our scholarship candidates canapply.
People can look at what it meansand what does it take to do a uh
(17:06):
uh to be involved with our watersafety program and seeing all
those kinds of pieces that ithappens.
But front and center is youknow, we we don't have a
storefront.
Um, our office on occasion,maybe twice a month, someone
will come through here, buteverything is done via
(17:27):
technology um uh you know forus, and we all have all the
newest and latest uh in terms ofthose opportunities.
And one of the cool things withus is uh, you know, things could
be cash or they could be inkind.
We have a great um IT providerthat works with us um and
doesn't charge us for that uhbecause they believe in the
(17:50):
mission.
Uh, we also have a marketing andwebsite company that literally
charges us about 20 cents on adollar to provide the services
because they believe in themission to make sure that we are
able to have the current robusttechnology that's gonna support
such a great mission about whatwe're doing.
SPEAKER_00 (18:14):
And so, Kevin, it's hard to believe, but we are
concluding this interview, andthe inspiration is beyond what
you can imagine.
For those, again, millions offolks that will watch this
interview on Idea Gen TV as partof the Idea Gen Global
Leadership Summit.
I want to thank you, but I alsowant to make sure before we
(18:35):
conclude that you are able tohighlight how folks can find out
more about the work you're doingat CFY.
SPEAKER_01 (18:44):
So the bet so the best way is two ways, and it
kind of concludes with that likethe last thing I talk about.
Our website, uh cfypenellis.org,or our handle on uh Facebook's.
Um we're on Facebook, we are onuh LinkedIn, and we are also um
(19:05):
we're also on Instagram, is uhCFY Penellus.
Uh that is where everything wedo operates through.
SPEAKER_00 (19:14):
Kevin Dunbar, executive director, leader.
You are a leadership defined, myfriend.
Leader of CFY Pinellus.
I've seen it.
You're changing the world.
It's an incredible model thatyou've incorporated and that
you're building upon each andevery day.
And it's just incredible to seehow many lives you're helping to
(19:39):
accelerate into the future.
Thank you so very much.
SPEAKER_01 (19:43):
Well, thank you, George.
And for you know, for me, again,the passion about making a
difference in the life of achild, and almost as equally as
important as being able to callyou one of my dearest friends.
SPEAKER_00 (19:55):
Well, right back at you, my friend.
That's right.
That's right.
It's all about family.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01 (20:02):
All right, appreciate it.
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