On a Fort Worth field in mid-June, 250 kids run drills in the Texas heat. A young girl catches a pass and sprints toward the end zone. Nearby, a child in foster care clutches a team photo signed by an NFL quarterback, the kind of keepsake that turns a single event into a lasting memory. This is the Colt McCoy Performance Camp.
More than a youth football camp, this yearly event offers a glimpse into how For Others board members Colt and Rachel McCoy live out the mission they help shape in the boardroom. It also offers a model that any of us can borrow: take the skills or platforms we already have and use them to serve vulnerable kids in our own community.
How Colt and Rachel McCoy Serve Beyond the Boardroom
Serving on a board advances a mission. Investing in the same kids year after year strengthens it. The McCoys do both.
Colt and Rachel McCoy joined For Others’ Board of Directors because they care deeply about the well-being of children across America. Their commitment extends far beyond board meetings. It shows up every June in their Texas neighborhood, where they have faithfully led the camp for 16 years.
Colt spent over a decade playing as a quarterback in the NFL after a standout career at the University of Texas. Since he retired from the sport, Rachel has been an equal partner in turning Colt’s platform into lasting service for local families.
What is the Colt McCoy Performance Camp?
Colt and his dad, a former high school coach, founded the camp together 16 years ago. What began as a family project now welcomes as many as 250 boys and girls in grades 1 through 8 every summer.
The camp runs two half-days each mid-June, timed just after the NFL’s offseason training period. Campers are grouped into three divisions named after Colt’s teams over the years. Autographed helmets, footballs, and gloves serve as prizes throughout the two days, and every camper leaves with a signed team photo. The goal is to make football fun and accessible for every child who wants to play and spend two afternoons pouring encouragement into their lives.
A Model That Funds the Mission
The Colt McCoy Performance Camp thrives because neighbors, businesses, and families invest in it together. Businesses and banks sponsor at $5,000 to $8,000 each, families who can pay cover a $250 registration fee, and local vendors donate food, prizes, and camp bags. After covering expenses, the remaining funds support three organizations: For Others, River Tree Academy, and Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth.
That model matters. Colt and Rachel have built a sustainable funding model that supports For Others year after year.
Supporting Children in Foster Care Through Youth Sports
This year, the camp took an important step by partnering with Gladney’s Heart Gift program, which supports children in foster care across the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Organizers set aside 20 spots for children in foster care. Those spots filled in just 30 minutes, so the camp expanded the program to 30 spots. Gladney and foster parents handled transportation, registration, and coordination, allowing the camp to focus on creating a great experience for every child. Such teamwork speaks to a genuine community partnership rather than a one-time gesture.
More partners joined the effort. The Boys & Girls Club bused kids to camp on the first day, and River Tree Academy, a faith-based charter school and one of the camp’s funding beneficiaries, helped even more children participate.
This is the Well-Being Support Ecosystem™ strategy in action: a foster care nonprofit in Fort Worth, a local charter school, and a youth sports camp working together to reach the kids who need support the most.
How You Can Use Your Own Skills to Give Back
It’s easy to assume this model only works because Colt and Rachel McCoy had the reach to make it happen. Look closer, though, and a different lesson emerges. Colt and Rachel provided the platform. Sponsors funded the event. The Boys & Girls Club, River Tree Academy, and Gladney handled outreach and logistics. No one did anything alone.
That is a model any of us can put to use. You don’t need a national platform to turn your skill into community service. A chef could host a cooking class for a local shelter. A musician could organize a benefit concert for a youth mentoring program. A software developer could build a free tool for a nonprofit serving families in crisis. Individuals across the country have the opportunity to help families and children in need in their community; they just need to discover it.
Ask yourself: what is your version of a football camp? What skill, hobby, or passion could become a way to serve vulnerable children where you live? You don’t have to build the whole thing by yourself. Find partners who already know how to reach the kids who need it, and let your platform, whatever it is, do the rest.
Get Involved with For Others
If you have a camper at home in Fort Worth, keep an eye on coltmccoycamp.com for next year’s registration details.
If this story sparked an idea, we’d love to hear it. Reach out to For Others to talk about what serving vulnerable kids in your own community could look like. Or, if you simply want to support the work the McCoys and our other board members do, consider making a gift to For Others today.
