The Sharks Foundation today announced five nonprofit beneficiaries for the 2026-27 Goals for Kids program, which will once again donate $1,000 for every goal scored by the San Jose Sharks during the NHL regular season.
Entering its 13th season, Goals for Kids supports organizations whose work aligns with the Foundation’s three pillars of Youth Education, Youth Wellness, and Access to Hockey. The 2026-27 beneficiaries include One Step Beyond, Inc., Family Giving Tree, The Bay Area Bike Project, Healthier Kids Foundation, and Vision to Learn.
This season, the Sharks Foundation is expanding Goals for Kids beyond financial contributions, with increased community activations and deeper engagement with beneficiary organizations. The program will support one flagship project and four program-specific beneficiaries, creating opportunities to extend the partnerships beyond the season and connect several projects with schools participating in the Sharks Reading is Cool program.
Flagship Project: Bay Area Bike Project
Sharks Foundation Pillar Alignment: Youth Wellness
Bay Area Bike Project (BABP) is an organization that mobilizes people through the Power of Bicycles. Founded in 2017, BABP was created by two moms who wanted to help children who lost their homes in the California wildfires by reestablishing a sense of normalcy and freedom.
The nonprofit is committed to getting kids on bikes, providing bike education, advocating for safe biking communities, and providing bicycles and gear to children who otherwise may not have access to them. Biking can build confidence and independence among youth, support physical and mental wellness, and provide an environmentally friendly form of transportation.
In fall 2027, Goals for Kids program partners and Sharks front office members will build 102 bicycles in a single day. The bicycles will then be donated, along with helmets and bike locks, to local youth and students at schools engaged in the Reading is Cool program.
Program-Specific Beneficiary: One Step Beyond Inc.
Sharks Foundation Pillar Alignment: Access to Hockey
One Step Beyond Inc. (OSBI) empowers individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, such as autism and Down syndrome, through programs that foster independence, belonging, and community participation.
Founded in 2003, OSBI expanded to the Bay Area in 2016 and launched the One Step Sharks hockey team, giving athletes with disabilities the opportunity to play the sport they love while building social connections and confidence.
Goals for Kids funding will support the Memorial Day weekend 2027 Fin-Classic Special Ice Hockey Tournament at Sharks Ice San Jose, bringing together more than 100 athletes, along with their families and volunteers, for inclusive competition, celebration, and recognition. The tournament demonstrates how access to hockey can break barriers, build confidence, and create lasting inclusion.
Program-Specific Beneficiary: Family Giving Tree
Sharks Foundation Pillar Alignment: Youth Education
In the Bay Area, families spend approximately $85 to equip an elementary-aged student for school and more than $100 for a high school student. For families with limited resources, these costs can create a significant barrier, while arriving at school without necessary supplies can affect a student’s confidence and readiness to learn.
In response to this need, Family Giving Tree (FGT) launched its Back-to-School Drive in 1995 to ease the financial burden many low-income families face each August. The program partners with 250 schools and agencies to help bridge educational inequities by providing students in need with brand-new backpacks filled with required school supplies.
Goals for Kids funding will support the Back-to-School Drive, which has served more than 500,000 California students since its inception. A select number of assembled backpacks will also be hand-delivered by Sharks representatives to a Reading is Cool school at the start of the 2027-28 school year.
Program-Specific Beneficiary: Healthier Kids Foundation
Sharks Foundation Pillar Alignment: Youth Wellness
Healthier Kids Foundation (HKF) supports children and families through critical health services and educational opportunities focused on prevention, wellness, and access to care. To date, HKF has provided more than 435,800 vision, dental, hearing, and social-emotional screening services to local youth in need.
Goals for Kids funding will support HKF’s DentalFirst program, which utilizes trained dental personnel to screen children ages 6 months to 18 years old for undetected dental concerns and connect them with follow-up care when needed. Many screenings take place on school campuses, helping eliminate travel and access barriers for youth receiving this essential service.
In fall 2027, a Sharks player will accompany HKF to a Reading is Cool school to visit with elementary students receiving DentalFirst screenings.
Program-Specific Beneficiary: Vision to Learn
Sharks Foundation Pillar Alignment: Youth Wellness
Vision to Learn provides vision screenings, eye exams, and prescription glasses to students at schools in low-income communities, all at no cost.
Working directly with school districts, Vision to Learn screens students in grades K-12 and brings its mobile vision clinic to school campuses for students who require additional care. Licensed optometrists provide eye exams, and students who are prescribed glasses select their own frames before receiving their new glasses approximately two weeks later. Lost or broken glasses are also replaced at no cost within one year.
At the start of the 2027-28 school year, S.J. Sharkie will visit a Reading is Cool school receiving services from Vision to Learn to help distribute prescription glasses to students.
ANTICIPATED COMMUNITY IMPACT
Thanks to the collective funding efforts of Goals for Kids presenting partners Taube Philanthropies, Tech CU, and SAP, with additional support from Credo and Swenson Foundation,
anticipated outcomes for the 2026-27 program include:
- 102 local youth will receive a high-quality bicycle, lock, and helmet following a one-day build
with Bay Area Bike Project. - 500 athletes, family members, and volunteers will be impacted through One Step Beyond Inc.’s
three-day Fin-Classic Special Ice Hockey Tournament, while the One Step Sharks special ice hockey
team will receive funding to support its
continued expansion. - 636 Santa Clara County students will receive a new backpack and grade-level appropriate school
supplies through Family Giving Tree’s Back-to-School Drive. - 1,600 Bay Area youth will receive a free dental screening and toothbrush, in addition to
extended care resources, through Healthier Kids Foundation’s DentalFirst program. - 400 local students will have access to free eye exams and prescription glasses through Vision to
Learn’s school-based program.
Collectively, these projects will help Goals for Kids continue to advance youth education, youth
wellness, and access to hockey throughout the Bay Area while providing young people with tangible
resources, essential health services, and opportunities to build confidence, independence, and
belonging.
FOLLOW EVERY GOAL
Returning for the 2026-27 season is the Goals for Kids bobblehead, introduced last year as another way for fans to engage with and support the program. This season’s bobblehead features Collin Graf, Macklin Celebrini, and Will Smith, the Sharks top three goal scorers from the 2025-26 season.
Available only through the Sharks Foundation, the unique piece of memorabilia features a goal counter, giving fans a way to follow along as every Sharks goal generates $1,000 for the community.
Since the program’s inception in 2014, Goals for Kids has contributed more than $2.8 million to organizations serving youth and families throughout the Bay Area.
To learn more about Goals for Kids, visit sjsharks.com/goalsforkids.
