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Year 3 of CavFutures Foundation’s flagship program, Champions of the Community, wrapped up September 3rd with a celebration of the 2026 grant recipients. Champions of the Community is a unique program designed to give University of Virginia student athletes the education and resources to learn about grant making and philanthropy in order to provide recommendations via their research to the team at CavFutures Foundation to award local Charlottesville nonprofits to receive grant dollars.

Through the Leadership Academy, a cohort of 21 student athletes read 55 applications across several months of the spring semester. The cohort learned about philanthropy, grant making, ethical decision making, and more across several months and applied their lessons to their decision making.

The result was $200,000 awarded to 22 local Charlottesville organizations that work in areas like food insecurities, swim safety, affordable healthcare, and lodging for families going through treatment at UVA Health.

The 55 applicants and 22 recipients were program-highs, and through three years, the Champions of the Community program has awarded over $530,000 to 36 unique organizations.

At the celebration, which was held at the Kimpton Forum Hotel, all 22 organizations were recognized for the hard work and dedication that they give to this community. Third year UVA swimmer Katie Christopherson spoke about her experience with the Champions program and how sports have had a positive impact on her life.

The audience then heard from Kate Duval, the President and CEO of Piedmont Court Appointed Special Advocates (PCASA), who detailed how the grant money received would help them continue training advocates to help children in need.

“Champions of the Community is a powerful celebration of the people who make our community stronger every day,” CavFutures Foundation Executive Director Lo Davis said of the celebration. “The success of this event reflects what is possible when we come together to recognize, uplift, and invest in those who are creating meaningful change. At CavFutures Foundation, we are proud to honor these champions and shine a light on the lasting impact their leadership and service have on our community.”

Applications are now being accepted for Year 4 of Champions of the Community, and local nonprofits can apply at www.cavscare.org/champions.

For more information on the Champions of the Community program, please visit www.cavscare.org or email info@cavscare.org.

Before starting fall camp, several members of UVA’s football team made a visit to the Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville to lend a helping hand. Christian Ellis, Monroe Mills, Tekai Kirby, Dylan Biehl, Jason Hammond, Jacquon Gibson, and Dakota Twitty took time out of their schedules ahead of camp to assist with some tasks around the house.

The players moved mattresses and box springs out of the Ronald McDonald House before moving all the replacements back in. It was hard work, but work they were willing to contribute to help support their community.

The Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville provides affordable lodging for families that have kids receiving treatment at UVA Health Children’s Hospital for injury or illness.

“It’s so great to see the commitment the student athletes at UVA have to their community,” said Caroline Darney, the Director of Programming and Community Engagement at CavFutures Foundation. “The guys coming out just before their season really ramps up shows that they care and want to give back.”

With the start of classes and the return of the men’s soccer season both happening in August, the fall is a busy time for third year student athlete Luke Burns. Still, he finds time in his schedule to dedicate to community engagement and volunteering. He can regularly be found playing soccer with members of the Boys and Girls Club or reading to kids at the local elementary schools. CavFutures Foundation sat down with Luke to learn more about his commitment to giving back, his journey from Arizona to Virginia, and more.

Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

CavFutures Foundation: What year are you, and what are you studying?

Luke Burns: I am a third year, and I'm studying foreign affairs with a business minor.

CFF: What has been your favorite class so far at UVA?

LB: I would say it's one of my business minor classes. I really liked accounting. Marketing was pretty interesting. Accounting was tough. Accounting was a hard class. Maybe not the best grade, but I learned the most probably in my accounting class.

CFF: Coming from Scottsdale, Arizona, what made you want to choose UVA?

LB: The major reason was soccer, but this is the only school that I came to visit, and when I came here, I was taken great care of by the first years, Reese Miller and Triton Beauvois. But they just took really good care of me, showed me around, made me feel at home, and my whole thing when I came on this visit was: Do I like the team? Do I like the team dynamics? Do I like the coaches? Are they a good team? And all those check the boxes.

CFF: What has been your favorite soccer memory at UVA so far?

LB: Yeah, that's a good question. I would say Louisville. Like a selfish answer would be Louisville when I scored the game winner, and afterwards in the locker room, it was a really fun time. My parents both came to that game. I would also say winning the ACC regular season championship with the team at SMU last season was also a great time.

CFF: Have you always been someone that was interested in community service and community engagement?

LB: Yeah. So I did a lot of volunteering with my family and at my grade school and in my high school all the time. Whether it was from helping with different soccer types of volunteering to education type volunteering. After my junior year of high school, I started my own nonprofit where I help these marginalized community members within El Salvador and gave them different soccer supplies. I raised a good amount of money so that I could purchase these new soccer balls, new soccer cleats, jerseys, shin guards, all these different things. It was really my goal, just to help them any way I can, and then I love interacting with these different age groups where I can just be myself and just hang out with them and make them feel happy.

CFF: As a busy student athlete, how important was it to be able to keep doing that here at UVA?

LB: It was really important. I was into it my freshman year. I had great people to look up to who were into it, likeNick Deng and these other athletes. I think that's something that's really part of me. I love being able to express love for my community and just get closer with all these people. We've done a few events as a team this year, and they've just made me feel so happy. I feel like even as a team, we've gotten closer while also getting closer to the community members. So it's been great.

CFF: What have you enjoyed about working with Cat Futures Foundation?

LB: It's been incredible. I think just like bringing my teammates to these different events has made our team so much closer, and just getting to know each story about about these kids is really just special to me. It puts everything in perspective. It makes all of us realize that we're so fortunate, but being able to spread that fortune into these amazing kids is just so special for us to do

CFF: You were able to participate in the Champions of the Community cohort last spring. Was tha what you expected when you signed up, and what did you take away from that experience?

LB: I didn't even know what to expect when I signed up for it, but I would say the overall theme and just like giving back was exactly what I wanted to do, and it was nice to have time set aside for that every week, or every other week, where we get to just pick out where would these donations be best to be donated to, and just doing research and learning about all the different types of things that these businesses and organizations do is really special. I think what we did was almost little to nothing, but also just like still very big impact in the decision making. It was so cool for us to notice that we do have a say in this. So it was really cool.

Catch Luke and the rest of the Cavaliers in action this fall at Klöckner Stadium.

CavFutures Foundation is thrilled to announce the recipients for the third year of it's one-of-a-kind grant program, Champions of the Community, This cycle, 22 local nonprofit organizations were selected to receive funding for their impactful initiatives in the Charlottesville community. Make-A-Wish of Greater Virginia, Reclaimed Hope Initiative, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Central Blue Ridge, Charlottesville Community Bikes, Charlottesville Free Clinic, Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry, Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, Piedmont CASA, Cultivate Charlottesville, College Mentors for Kids, Computers4Kids, Piedmont YMCA, Benjamin Hair - Just Swim For Life, Camp Holiday Trails, Athletes In Action, HER Sports, 100 Black Men of Central Virginia, Stepping Stone, Building Goodness Foundation, Bennett's Village, LilyPads Housing, and The Yellow Door Foundation make up the grant recipients for 2026.

CavFutures Foundation is proud to partner with this diverse group of nonprofits dedicated to addressing critical needs and driving positive change within our community. These selected organizations exemplify innovation, dedication, and a deep commitment to improving the lives of our fellow residents. The 22 grant recipients selected this year are the most awarded since the inception of the Champions program. The total amount granted in 2026 totaled $200,000. During its three-year history of the program, Champions of the Community has donated over $530,000 to nonprofit organizations in Charlottesville and surrounding areas.

"This program has evolved over the last three years into an amazing opportunity to bring our student athletes closer to the community in which they live in through awareness and philanthropy," CavFutures Foundation Executive Director Lo Davis said. "We are grateful to the Weinberg Family Foundation for their continued collaboration and support that allows CavFutures Foundation and UVA to make such a meaningful impact not only in the lives of our student athletes but the greater Charlottesville community."

Of the group of this year's recipients, nine are first time grant awardees through the Champions program. The organizations receiving grants in 2026 support the Charlottesville community in everything from swim safety to court advocacy for youths.

Grant applications received a thorough examination by the UVA Student-Athlete Leadership Academy team, made up of 21 student-athletes across 10 teams. The Leadership Academy students spent the semester receiving education on philanthropy, grant making and the awarding process.

"I was amazed by how many sectors were covered, whether it was camps for families, swim lessons for any ages, or mentorship for young Black students," fourth year rower Dylan Bentley said of the program. "This process in particular revealed to me how important it is to know and hold your values and learning how to use those values as a roadmap to decision making. This program is so incredibly unique, and its impact on all those that come into contact with it cannot be understated."

For more information about CavFutures Foundation and its grant program, please visit www.cavscare.org.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Jack Callahan was three years old when he was diagnosed with metastatic cancer. Fourteen months of treatment at the University of Virginia, near his family's home, and in Philadelphia followed.

Now, seven years later, Jack is a healthy 10-year-old with a healthy love for baseball.

"He told me his plan was to be in the majors, but if that didn't work out, he'd be a minor league player," Jack's mother, Emily Callahan, told Cville Right Now. "He loves baseball."

Wednesday afternoon, Jack Callahan and 11 other children who battled critical illness, got the chance to spend some time with the UVA baseball team, part of an event put on by the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Virginia and CavFutures.

The children and their families visited Disharoon Park, spent time on the field with the Cavaliers players and coaches, then hung out with them in the stadium's club, eating pizza and doing some arts-and-crafts projects. First-year coach Chris Pollard gave each child a baseball.

"It's just a day of joy and a reminder to find moments every day to find joy with one another," Emily Callahan said.

Lo Davis, executive director at CavFutures, said the organization hopes to expand the number of events it puts on. "This is just the beginning," Davis told Cville Right Now. "We want to look at doing more events with Make-A-Wish, with more teams."

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – CavFutures Foundation is the nonprofit arm of the Official NIL Collective of the Virginia Athletics Department CavFutures. While the conversation around collegiate athletics has primarily been about player compensation, the CavFutures Foundation has also emphasized partnering UVA student athletes with local area nonprofits to enhance their student experience.

For the second straight year, the CavFutures Foundation has invested heavily into the community and this year the total dollar amount was over $200,000 going to local nonprofits.

"We could not be more excited for how the second year of Champions of the Community went," said Lo Davis, Executive Director of CavFutures Foundation.

For more information about CavFutures Foundation and its grant program, please visit www.cavscare.org.

A program-high 22 Charlottesville nonprofits to receive grants in 2026

CavFutures Foundation is thrilled to announce the recipients for the third year of it's one-of-a-kind grant program, Champions of the Community. This cycle, 22 local nonprofit organizations were selected to receive funding for their impactful initiatives in the Charlottesville community.

The total amount granted in 2026 totaled $200,000. During its three-year history of the program, Champions of the Community has donated over $530,000 to nonprofit organizations in Charlottesville and surrounding areas.

"This program has evolved over the last three years into an amazing opportunity to bring our student athletes closer to the community," CavFutures Foundation Executive Director Lo Davis said.

Contact:
Lo Davis
Executive Director
CavFutures Foundation
lo@cavalierfutures.com
434-999-8821

Twenty Charlottesville nonprofits to receive grants in 2025

CavFutures Foundation is thrilled to announce the recipients for its second year of its one-of-a-kind grant program, Champions of the Community, resulting in the selection of 20 local nonprofit organizations to receive funding for their impactful initiatives in the Charlottesville community.

Seven more grants were awarded in Year 2 of the program, with the amount given back to the community totaling more than $200,000.

Contact:
Lo Davis
Executive Director
CavFutures Foundation
lo@cavalierfutures.com
434-999-8821

Thirteen Charlottesville non-profits to receive grants in 2024

CavFutures Foundation is thrilled to announce the conclusion of its inaugural grant program, Champions of the Community, resulting in the selection of 13 local non-profit organizations to receive funding for their impactful initiatives in the Charlottesville community.

"We are incredibly excited to collaborate with these outstanding non-profit partners on their projects," said Lo Davis, Executive Director of CavFutures Foundation.

Contact:
Lo Davis
Executive Director
CavFutures Foundation
lo@cavalierfutures.com
434-999-8821

CavFutures, the NIL (Name Image and Likeness) collective supporting University of Virginia student athletes has announced the launch of CavFutures Foundation (CFF). CavFutures Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that will serve as a complimentary entity to CavFutures and is dedicated to educational programming related to personal growth and development, mental health advocacy, financial literacy, personal and professional branding and more.

"This is about more than just bringing NIL opportunities to Charlottesville. This foundation will allow us to provide essential programming and support as we help student-athletes to leave their own legacy here," according to CavFutures Executive Director Lo Davis.

If you would like more information or make a donation to support CavFutures Foundation please go to www.cavscare.org.