The Ravens Foundation, Inc. recently awarded $100,000 in grants to 24 nonprofit organizations in the Baltimore area. The Ravens' PLAY 60 Grant continues to provide financial support of up to $10,000 for both new and expanding programs or endeavors that promote physical fitness and/or nutrition education among youth. Over the past 14 years, the Ravens Foundation, Inc. has provided over $1.4 million in funding to support these deserving programs.
The 2020 PLAY 60 Grant helped fund a variety of projects, such as interscholastic athletic programs for students with disabilities, running clubs and after-school mentorship programs. Each of these programs work to increase physical activity and nutrition awareness among local youth. In continuing to prioritize the health and safety of our youth during the COVID-19 pandemic, recipients of this year's grant have demonstrated a comprehensive commitment to safeguarded programming. A few examples of projects that received grants for 2020 include:
Girls on the Run of Central Maryland and Greater Chesapeake, Inc., which helps third through eighth grade girls develop a lifelong commitment to physical activity and healthy living through running; Baltimore SquashWise, Inc. serves middle and high school students across Baltimore City by offering year-round squash coaching and competition, tutoring, college/career preparation and social-emotional counseling; continued support for KEEN (Kids Enjoy Exercise Now) Greater DC – Baltimore, which provides sports and recreation programs to children with significant developmental and physical disabilities at no cost; funds to support extracurricular programming at Soccer Without Borders – an organization that serves over 500 refugee, immigrant and asylee youth using soccer to support them academically and socially.
The Ravens Foundation, Inc. is committed to improving, encouraging and enabling the healthy development of youth in Baltimore and throughout the state of Maryland. Annually, the Ravens Foundation, Inc. provides more than $500,000 in grant funding to local nonprofits. In addition to the PLAY 60 Grant program, other foundation projects include the Ravens Scholarship Program, the Ravens Youth Football Equipment and Apparel Grant Program, renovation of the Webster Kendrick Boys and Girls Club (2019), Kaboom! Playground builds at Douglass Homes (2018), German Park (2011) and the Good Samaritan Hospital Child Development Center (2009); the school transformation project with Heart of America at Mary Ann Winterling Elementary School (2017), the completion of a library renovation at Charles Carroll Barrister Elementary School #34 (2015), the build partnership with Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake in the Pigtown neighborhood (2014), stadium renovations at Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School (2008) and Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (2006).
2020 Ravens PLAY 60 Grant Recipients:
- Baltimore SquashWise, Inc.
- Boys & Girls Club of Harford County
- Boys & Girls Club of Cecil County
- Boys Hope Girls Hope Baltimore
- Christian Youth Athletics
- Cool Kids Campaign Foundation
- Dream Big, Inc.
- FC Frederick, Inc.
- Friends of Patterson Park
- Girls on the Run of Central Maryland, Inc.
- Girls on the Run of Greater Chesapeake, Inc.
- Heroes Helping Heroes
- Horizon Day Camp
- KEEN Greater DC – Baltimore (Kids Enjoying Exercise Now)
- MissionFit, Inc.
- Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital
- Safe Alternative Foundation for Education, Inc.
- Salisbury Rhino's
- Soccer Without Borders (SWB)
- Special Olympics Maryland
- St. Francis Neighborhood Center Corporation
- TasteWise Kids – Days of Taste Program
- Team Captain Kids Foundation: HERO Boys Run Club
- The Tender Bridge, Inc.
For more information on the Ravens Foundation, Inc. or the Ravens' PLAY 60 Grant project, visit www.baltimoreravens.com/community.
