LA84 Foundation Awards Over $1.7 Million In Grants Across Five Counties
More Than 64,000 Kids Will Benefit From Funding Support To 18 Organizations for Multiple Sports
LOS ANGELES (April 4, 2024) – The LA84 Foundation announced today that it has awarded $1,745,000 to 18 organizations. The grants will support activities and programs for more than 64,000 youth across five Southern California counties. The grants are part of the LA84 Foundation’s mission to support youth-serving organizations in Southern California through investments that increase access to sport, play, and movement.
Grants were awarded to diverse organizations including A Place Called Home, various Boys & Girls Clubs across Southern California, the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center, Playworks and Up2Us Sports. Sports funded by the grants include soccer, swimming, squash, tennis, running, basketball, and volleyball. In all, the 18 grantees collectively will serve a population that is 60% Latino, 17% Black and 5% API from the five-county region, reaching parity in gender participation evenly split between boys and girls.
“For four decades, the LA84 Foundation has supported programs across Southern California that work to remove barriers for kids who lack access to sports and play,” said Renata Simril, President & CEO of the LA84 Foundation. “The grants we announce today will continue to make sports accessible and enjoyable for kids across the region, regardless of income or geography. Life lessons like teamwork, physical and mental health, and safety are essential elements to healthy youth development and a key ingredient to the success of the LA84 Foundation’s legacy.”
The largest grant was awarded to Playworks, which received $225,000 to serve more than 35,000 youth in Los Angeles and Orange Counties supporting recess and lunchtime structured play in high-need schools. Grants ranged from $225,000 to $15,000 for first-time recipient, Boys & Girls Club of Buena Park, for daily organized sports activities like badminton, basketball, rock climbing and flag football.
First-time recipient, Best STEP Forward in Imperial County received $160,000 to support its adaptive sports programming for youth. The program offers daily adaptive sports and structured play activities such as baseball, soccer, dance, and soapbox racing. The organization engages both children with special needs and their typically abled siblings, providing an inclusive engagement in sports and life skills.
“Thank you all for your trust. Thank you all for dedicating time to meeting our team; traveling down deep south to meet us means more than you could imagine. We usually are not given this type of attention, and it makes us very happy to know we have allies nearby that believe in the mission.” said Jacqueline Riddle, Best STEP Forward Co-Founder.
In San Diego County, first-time recipient Backcountry Communities Thriving (BCT), located in Julian, CA, will serve 500 kids engaging in multiple sports school districtwide. This $95,000 grant will support the local school district’s renovations including the weight room, creating a cardio room, resurfacing the tennis and pickleball courts, and installing a practice golf course. Twenty-one percent of Julian High School population is identified as having special needs.
About the LA84 Foundation
The LA84 Foundation is a national leader supporting youth sports and public education about the essential role of sports in positive youth development. For 40 years, the LA84 Foundation has supported thousands of youth-serving organizations in Southern California through grants, funding facilities and fields of play, training coaches and commissioning research. The LA84 Foundation takes on critical issues as a national thought leader by elevating youth sports and play as an integral to lifelong well-being. To learn more, visit www.la84.org and @LA84Foundation on X and Instagram
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