The Ravens Foundation, Inc. recently awarded $100,000 in grants to 26 nonprofit organizations in the Baltimore area. The Ravens' PLAY 60 Grant continues to provide financial support of up to $5,000 for both initiating and expanding programs or endeavors that promote physical fitness and/or nutrition education among youth. Over the past decade, the Ravens Foundation, Inc. has provided over $1 million in funding to support these deserving programs.
The 2016 PLAY 60 Grant helped fund a variety of projects, such as interscholastic athletic programs for students with disabilities, running clubs, boxing training and after school mentorship programs, all of which work to increase physical activity and health awareness among local youth. A few examples of projects that received grants for 2016 include:
The Horizon Day Camp's free summer camp which provides recreational activities for children in the Baltimore area who are undergoing cancer treatment, as well as support for their siblings; Boys and Girls Clubs of Westminster, Metropolitan Baltimore and Cecil County's "Triple Play" programs, which teach club members to approach healthy living by improving the mind, body and soul; continued support for the UMAR Boxing program, serving the Druid Heights neighborhood, which has aligned progress in the classroom with that in the boxing ring through their motto: "No hooks before books!"; and, funds to provide scholarships to low-income and at-risk youth interested in running with Girls on the Run of Central Maryland.
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, stadium renovations at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (2006) and Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School (2008), the Ravens Youth Football Equipment and Apparel Grant Program, KaBoom! playground builds at Collington Square School (2007), the Good Samaritan Hospital Child Development Center (2009) and German Park (2011), the build partnership with Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake in the Pigtown neighborhood located near M&T Bank Stadium (2014), and the completion of a library renovation at Charles Carroll Barrister Elementary School #34 (2015).
2016 Ravens PLAY 60 Grant Recipients:
- Annapolis Recreation and Parks
- Baltimore Curriculum Project
- Baltimore Lab School
- Baltimore Rowing Club
- Baltimore SquashWise, Inc.
- BCPS - Allied Sports Program
- BMoreFit (Baltimore Fitness Academy)
- Boys and Girls Clubs of Cecil County
- Boys and Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore
- Boys and Girls Clubs of Westminster
- Creative Alliance
- Dayspring Programs, Inc.
- Friends of Patterson Park
- George W.F. McMechen High School
- Girls in the Game
- Girls on the Run of Central Maryland
- Horizon Day Camp
- KIPP Baltimore, Inc.
- Lutherville-Timonium Rec Council
- Paul's Place, Inc.
- St. Francis Neighborhood Center
- Team Captain Kids Foundation - Hero Boys Run Club
- The Charm City Youth Lacrosse League
- The Children's Home, Inc.
- The Judy Center at John Ruhrah
- Umar Boxing Program, Inc.
For more information on the Ravens Foundation, Inc. or the Ravens' PLAY 60 Grant project, visit www.baltimoreravens.com/community.
