Nike Inc. has partnered with the Greater New Orleans Foundation to help rebuild New Orleans through sport. And old, worn-out athletic shoes are helping.

It’s part of Nike’s Let Me Play initiative, a global initiative to empower young people through sports. Nike hopes partnerships, such as the one with GNOF, will create opportunities that will use sports to improve the lives of young people and their communities.

So far this year, Nike has provided five new surfaces at four New Orleans Recreation Department facilities: Sam Bonart, Taylor playground, Stallings-Gentilly and the St. Bernard Center.

Under the Let Me Play umbrella is Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe Program, which was launched in 1993. Nike uses cutting-edge technology to process old shoe scraps into what it calls Nike Grind. The shoes are literally ground up and used as a surface for everything from tennis courts to soccer fields. Nike Grind will account for 10 to 20 percent of the material used for the new courts. Before Nike launched its Reuse-A-Shoe program, worn-out athletic shoes had nowhere to go but the landfill, and the material in athletic shoes doesn’t decompose quickly.

Making a Monetary Donation

But you don’t have to recycle old shoes to donate to Nike’s Let Me Play Fund. Monetary donations to the fund will be distributed by the Greater New Orleans Foundation, a public charity that manages more than 700 philanthropic funds. As a public charity with 501(c)(3) status, the foundation offers the most advantageous tax benefits for charitable giving.

For your convenience, there are two ways to donate: online or via U.S. mail.

Online Donations

The Greater New Orleans Foundation works with donations online through the Network for Good. Here's how:

1. Go to http://www.networkforgood.org/
2. Type in Greater New Orleans Foundation as the Charity Name
3. Select state of Louisiana.

4. Choose DONATE NOW to the Greater New Orleans Foundation. 

5. Enter the amount you wish to donate.
6. Type in Nike Let Me Play Fund in the DESIGNATION field. 

You'll receive a receipt for your online donation from Network for Good.

Donate online now. Don't forget to indicate Greater New Orleans Foundation as the charity and the Let Me Play Fund to designate how your donation is to be used.  

U.S. Mail Donations
Send your check payable to the Greater New Orleans Foundation (please designate Let Me Play Fund on the memo line) to:
Greater New Orleans Foundation
1055 St. Charles Ave., #100
New Orleans, LA 70130

You'll receive a receipt for your donation via U.S. mail from the Greater New Orleans Foundation.