The Yellow Heart Initiative is Kerala Blasters Football Club’s community engagement program. It’s dedicated to giving back to the local community of Kerala through awareness campaigns, charity drives, football clinics, and sport-educational scholarships.
This year, the Club launched the ‘Goal for Wayanad’ campaign, committing a contribution of Rs. 1 Lakh for every goal scored by KBFC in the season to the Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF), to support the ongoing landslide disaster recovery and rehabilitation efforts in Wayanad.
In partnership with Dil Se India, an organization working to spread awareness about the sensitive topic of Child Sexual Abuse, the Yellow Heart Initiative runs numerous awareness campaigns, which aim to educate the community about signs, instances and incidences of such abuse.
The Club also engages with children in the program through football clinics and workshops, conducted in collaboration with Young Blasters Sporthood Academy. Children from Dil Se India can often be seen pitch-side or escorting KBFC players onto the pitch on match-days.
Beyond football, Kerala Blasters FC has been deeply involved in various community service initiatives, through the Yellow Heart Initiative, reflecting its commitment to social responsibility towards the people of Kerala.
Key initiatives include:
– Flood Relief (2018): Established ‘Relief Material Collection Centres’ at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kaloor, Panampally Nagar, and the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium to aid flood relief efforts.
– Covid-19 Campaign (2020-22): Donated 250,000 Hydroxychloroquine Sulphate 200mg tablets and 10,000 N95 masks to the Kerala government.
– Road Safety Campaign: Collaborated with Malayalam Manorama to promote road safety awareness.
– Anti-Drug Initiatives: Organized a football match with Venda, an NGO focused on drug abuse, and launched initiatives with the Narcotics Control Bureau to raise awareness about the harmful effects of drug use.
– Challenge Plastic Bottles Campaign: Launched a campaign to recycle waste plastic bottles collected from KBFC home matches.
– Support for Blind Football: Supported the Indian Men’s Blind Football Team in participating in the Four Nations Blind Football Tournament in Thailand.