AFL has announced the inaugural donation of $1 million from the AFL Foundation to the Middle Tyger Community Center (MTCC).
The contribution will help fund the construction of MTCC's new 42,000 square foot family services and childcare center in Duncan, expected to open in August 2026. As part of the announcement event, associates gathered at the Embassy Suites Golf Resort and Conference Center in Greenville for a hands-on bike build, assembling and donating bicycles to the center for local children in the kinship program.
Over the years, AFL has supported MTCC through 33 grants and sponsorships totaling more than $277,000, including its first counseling grant in 2011. AFL officials also say that associates regularly volunteer and contribute to MTCC's annual Thanksgiving food and Christmas toy drives, demonstrating an ongoing investment in the community.
“Given everything Middle Tyger Community Center has meant to this community over the past 20 years, it only seemed fitting they would receive our inaugural gift," Grant Burns, chair of the AFL Foundation and executive vice president and general counsel of AFL, said. "Our partnership has always been about more than grants and sponsorships; it's about showing up for families who need support. The AFL Foundation builds on that legacy, ensuring we can continue to address the needs of children and families where our associates live and work.”
The AFL Foundation is a charitable partnership between AFL and the Spartanburg County Foundation, established in 2024 with an initial investment of $10 million to commemorate AFL's 40th anniversary. The foundation builds on AFL's commitment to community engagement, enabling the company to create sustainable, meaningful impact in communities where AFL associates live and work.
"I am incredibly grateful for the partnership AFL has provided to our organization," Haley Grau, executive director of Middle Tyger Community Center, said. "AFL's commitment to the community is a huge part of why Middle Tyger can be successful and why families in our district can be healthy and thrive. Whether it's bicycles for children facing obstacles or this transformational gift to expand our capacity to serve, AFL shows up for Upstate families in ways that truly matter."
