A.J. Ellis, Adrian Gonzalez and Skip Schumaker joined a team of 35 MLB players tohelp raise funds for Not For Sale, a global non-profit that is fighting to end human trafficking and modern slavery in CA and around the world by providing direct victim services.
On August 17, the Dodgers, the LA Dodgers Foundation joined SEIU United Long Term Care Workers in sponsoring the Fresh Start Community Festival at Dodger Stadium. SEIU created Fresh Start four years agao as a way to help local families and individuals hit hardest by the economic downturn get thir kids prepared for the new school year. The festival, completely free, included entertainment, a kids zone with arts & crafts, health screenings, haircuts adn manicures, lunch for all attendees. In addition, all kids aged 5-15 in attendance received a backpack courtesy of the LA Dodgers Foundation and SoCal Honda.
August 14 was Autism Awareness Night as the Dodgers joined Autism Speaks in raising awareness for autism. Autism Speaks aims to bring the autism community together as one strong voice to urge the government and private sector to listen to concerns and take action to address the global health crisis. Autism affects 1 in 88 American children.
Pregame ceremonies included children and adults with autism “taking the field,” the top fundraising family from teh Autism Walk throwing out a first pitch and recognition of the Executive Director Matthew Asner. Matthew has a brother and a son with autism.
For more information about Autism Speaks go to http://www.autismspeaks.org.
Created by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA) in 2005, the Heart & Hustle Award is voted on by Alumni and active Major League players and is presented annually to an active player who demonstrates a passion for the game of baseball and best embodies the values, spirit and traditions of the game. On August 12, Nick Punto was presented the 2013 Dodgers Heart & Hustle award from Fernando Valenzuela.
Chai Lifeline, whose mission is to bring joy to children whose innocence ended when life-threatening or lifelong illness was diagnosed, visited Dodger Stadium on August 12 to watch the Dodgers take on the Mets. More than 160 seriously ill children, their families and counselors enjoyed the game during the Chai Lifeline West Coast’s annual Dodger Night. Several of the children were able to go down to the field for a pregame visit and to say the famous words that begin every Dodger home game “It’s time for Dodger Baseball”. Through events like these, Chai Lifeline allows seriously ill children to restore a sense of normalcy by experiencing creative and innovative activities.
The Dodgers hosted the sixth annual ThinkCure! Weekend August 9 through August 11.The weekend promoted awareness and raised funds for cancer research. ThinkCure! is an innovative, community-based non-profit that raises funds to accelerate collaborative research to cure cancers. Its vision is to bring Southern Californians together to work towards a common cause to cure children and adults with cancer. ThinkCure!’s partners and beneficiaries are two of the leading cancer research institutions, City of Hope and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
This year’s ThinkCure! Weekend events included programming on the Dodgers’ broadcast partner stations throughout the weekend, celebrity involvement, in-stadium auctions, stories from cancer patients, survivors and their families, in-stadium recognitions and the ThinkCure! logo was painted on the field. Also during ThinkCure! Weekend, Dodger ushers wore ThinkCure shirts.
From Aug 9-14, 140 youngsters, ages 7-12 took part in the Dodgers Youth Baseball Camp where they learned from Dodger coaches, trainers and Dodger alumni. Campers learned and practiced the fundamentals of baseball in hitting, fielding, baserunning and pitching as well as team play, sportsmanship and conditioning. Each day at the end of camp they were visited by a current player for Q&A.
On August 9, Andre Ethier make a stop at The Grove to speak to a group of 140 low to very low income students who were graduating from middle and high school. 120 students were from various South and East LA high schools and members of the South Central Scholars organization. They all had recently completed a 7-week scholars program at USC and all were graduating to attend 4-year universities. 20 students from the Helping Young People Excel (HYPE) organization were graduating from middle school with 4-year scholarships to attend private high schools.
Dodger catcher A.J. Ellis hosted the Ninth Annual Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation Bowling Extravaganza at Lucky Strike Lanes LA LIVE on July 29. Ellis was joined by Dodger coaches Don Mattingly, Trey Hillman and Steve Yeager and Dodger players Chris Capuano, Carl Crawford, Jose Dominguez, Mark Ellis, Tim Fedorowicz, Adrian Gonzalez, J.P Howell, Clayton Kershaw, Hanley Ramirez, Paco Rodriguez and Chris Withrow. Money raised at the event funds various Foundation programs under the pillars of sports & recreation, education & literacy and health & wellness.
Hannah Vincent was at a bonfire with friends when someone through a can of spray confetti into the fire. Hannah was injured when the can exploded. It’s been a long road to recovery and continues to be. For a class assignment to write a self-portrait in the third person, Hannah wrote about her journey to heal and the motivation to pick up the pieces and get her life back on track. Like other teens, she loves Facebook and instagram, and is passionate about playing volleyball and the piano. She also stated that she loves Dodger baseball and wanted to someday meet Clayton Kershaw. What she didn’t know is that her teacher, Grace Hinojosa, sent a copy of her paper to the Dodgers.
After reading Hannah’s paper, Clayton wanted to meet Hannah and welcomed her and her famliy to the game on July 28. A dream come true for Hannah and a moment in time that now is an experience that brings brightness to the dark days.
Pitching In The Community 