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Dodgers Foundation Awards Over $1 Million In Grants To Organizations Helping Communities Impacted By COVID-19

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation is awarding more than $1 million in grants to organizations helping communities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and social injustice, the organization announced Wednesday.

"Our nonprofit partners are on the ground doing significant work to uplift neglected communities," said Chaitali Gala Mehta, the foundation's chief operating officer.

"The impact of the pandemic and ongoing racial injustice has redirected our charitable dollars in 2020 to organizations that are supporting Angelenos in dire need. Our commitment to investing in local nonprofits continues during a time when every dollar counts."

The grants include:

  • $500,000 to The ALLIANCE -- Play Equity Fund to advocate for social justice, address disparities and take actions to help end racial inequality;
  • $20,000 to Minds Matter LA to support college access and success programming for 140 high-achieving, dedicated students who face significant barriers to their educational success;
  • $20,000 to  Teach for America LA to support more than 190 corps member teachers, impacting more than 40,000 youth through distance learning;
  • $20,000 to Students Run LA (and The Civics Center) to support civic engagement through voter registration for 3,000 high school students and their communities;
  • $15,000 to Great Public Schools Now - One Family LA -- to provide direct cash assistance to cover basic necessities to 40 families who have experienced a hardship due to COVID-19.
  • $15,000 to New Earth Organization to support juvenile re-entry, education programming and wrap-around services for 100 underserved young people between the ages of 13 and 25;
  • $15,000 to Extraordinary Families to support Up4Youth in caring for 100 vulnerable current and former foster youth as they make the critical transition to adulthood and self-sufficiency;
  • $15,000 to LA Family Housing to provide food, clothing and basic necessities for 400 families experiencing homelessness;
  • $10,500 to The Not Impossible Foundation -- Hunger Not Impossible -- to provide 1,500 meals for Dodgers RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) families in Compton experiencing food insecurity;
  • $10,000 to McKinley Children's Center to provide devices such as Chromebooks and educational licenses for 160 abused, abandoned and neglected youth through distance learning and wrap-around services;
  • $10,000 to Kershaw's Challenge (and the Dream Center) to provide backpacks, school supplies and basic essentials to 3,700 children. The organization was founded by Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and his wife, Ellen.

Nearly $100,000 in immediate COVID-19 relief funds were awarded to organizations including the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, Brotherhood Crusade, My Friend's Place, Baby2Baby and Library Foundation of Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation.

Since 1995, the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation has invested more than $30 million in programs and grants to nonprofit organizations with its fundraising increasing by 1,000% since 2012.

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