Adrian Gonzalez’s Viva Los Dodgers Days

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Throughout the 2013 season, All-Star Dodger first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and his wife Betsy will be hosting families for a game of baseball at Dodger Stadium.  “Adrian Gonzalez’s Viva Los Dodgers Days” provides all-inclusive All-You-Can-Eat Right Field Pavilion tickets and parking for families in greater Los Angeles by partnering with various non-profit organizations.

On Sunday, June 30th, Adrian and Betsy hosted 18 families at Dodger Stadium from Our Neighborhood Homework House, an organization whose mission is to establish and sustain neighborhood based learning centers in Azusa wherein at-risk children and their families are equipped to thrive academically, socially and spiritually. 

Much more than an after-school program, the Our Neighborhood Homework House is bringing hope and encouragement to children by providing welcoming, safe havens where children from kindergarten through high school are encouraged to reach for their dreams and are equipped with the tools to realize them.photo 7

Their approach to meeting the needs of the community is to actually move into targeted low-income neighborhoods to not only help students get the tools they need for better academic achievement, but equip their families to provide the motivation for higher achievement through Homework House’s Parent Resource Center and partnering as an advocate at the children’s schools.

We commend Our Neighborhood Homework House for the exemplary service they provide in the community.

Matt Kemp hosts youth from Venice Boys & Girls Club – June 29

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On June 29, Matt Kemp hosted 22 youth baseball players ages 9 to 12 from the Venice Boys & Girls Club through his Kemp’s Kids program. Kemp’s Kids was established by and is fully sponsored by Kemp to provide underprivileged and inner-city youth with opportunities to visit and experience Dodger Stadium. Kemp’s Kids is also dedicated to elevating and increasing the relevance of Major League Baseball and participation of youth baseball among inner-city youth in the greater Los Angeles area. LOS ANGELES DODGERS VS PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Each youngster receives a Kemp’s Kids T-Shirt, a gift bag that includes a Nike backpack, Power Balance bands, Nike batting gloves and Big League Chew, a Loge Level game ticket and $25 in Dodger dollars to purchase food and beverages. The youth were on hand for batting practice to meet Matt Kemp, take photos and get autographs from the Dodger center fielder.

MLB Pitch Hit & Run

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On June 9, the Dodgers hosted the annual MLB Pitch Hit & Run Team Championship competition where the top 12 boy and girl qualifiers from Southern California and Hawaii competed on the field at Dodger Stadium. MLB Pitch, Hit & Run is a free, exciting skills event for boys and girls ages 7-14 where participants have the opportunity to compete in four levels of competition including Team Championship events at all 30 Major League ballparks and the National Finals at the MLB All-Star Game.

The Dodgers congratulate and will be cheering for Jaden Lyburtus of Guadalupe, CA , one of three 11/12 year old boys national finalists who will compete in New York before the All-Star Game. For information about hosting a local competition go to www.mlb.com/phr.

Andre Ethier serves lunch at Union Rescue Mission

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ANDRE ETHIER AT UNION RESCUE MISSIONOn June 25, Dodger outfielder Andre Ethier visited the Union Rescue Mission in the skid row area of Los Angeles. This was Andre’s 6th year visiting the Mission and serving meals to many men, women and children who utilize the services of the Union Rescue Mission. Through his partnership with Farmer John, Andre and Farmer John have donated more than 500,000 pounds of product over the last few years to help Union Rescue Mission with their meal services.

Andre has also served food to the homeless at the Weingart Center Los Angeles. Andre has been active in the Los Angeles community since joining the club in 2006, having made annual visits to the Union Rescue Mission, partaking in several Make-A-Wish Foundation projects, hosting several holiday shopping sprees for underserved youth and donating his time on countless hospital visits, caravan appearances and autograph sessions for Dodger fans throughout Southern California.

LA Dodgers support Los Angeles Education Partnership

LAEP Design Challenge 2013 On Monday, June 24th, the Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP) introduced the inaugural Helen Bernstein Award for Teacher Leadership at their “LAEP School of the Future Design Challenge 2013” presented by the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation to honor Terri Ann Sullivan, a teacher leader at the Academy of Medical Arts at Carson High School, who exemplifies extraordinary leadership at the school site, in the community and in the field of education.

“Given that education and literacy constitutes one of the three pillars of the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation and Community Relations, it is our pleasure to support an organization like LAEP who for the past 30 years has been working to improve urban education for our teachers, students and parents,” said Renata Simril, Senior Vice President of External Affairs – Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Dodger Foundation Board Member.

Honored as well at the event were LAEP co-founders Peggy Funkhouser and David Abel for their contributions in helping to reform public schools in Los Angeles. Peggy and David are influential leaders in education reform and public policy, recognized locally and nationally. Over the decades, they have maintained LAEP at the cutting edge of school transformation and have assisted other nonprofits in this field.

Since 1984, LAEP has combined public, nonprofit, philanthropic and for-profit resources to create, manage and sustain efforts that improve urban schools. LAEP’s mission is to help students in high-need schools improve their academic achievement by partnering with educators, parents and the community. They work both outside of schools as an agent of change, and within schools as a collaborative partner bringing ideas, resources and expertise to bear on critical challenges.

Coca-Cola/Vallarta Supermarket Health Fair in Baldwin Park

Vallarta 1Vallarta Supermarkets and Coca-Cola are partnering with the Los Angeles Dodgers this summer to bring free health fairs to the community in Baldwin Park and select areas in the San Fernando Valley. Fair attendees will learn about the importance of calorie balance, moderation and physical activity.  Fair participants will enjoy free Zumba classes, health screenings and information, healthy food demonstrations, Coca-Cola beverage samplings and interactive games.

Vallarta 3On Sunday, June 16th, Dodger alumni Al “The Bull” Ferrara and Dodger Blue Crew engaged with fans at the Coca-Cola Health Fair at Vallarta Supermarket in Baldwin Park.  The Los Angeles Dodgers will be on site at select supermarkets with family-friendly activities, prizes and Dodger alumni who will meet and sign autographs for fans.

Mathletics at Dodgers Community of Schools

photo 3The Dodgers recently piloted “Dodgers Mathletics”, a fun and engaging educational workbook for students to enhance and practice their math skills in the Dodgers’ Community of Schools. “Dodgers Mathletics” is an initiative from the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation that promotes the importance of math to students in the 1st through 8th grades by offering a workbook filled with Dodger baseball related math exercises.

The Los Angeles Dodgers “Community of Schools” is a partnership effort that focuses on student achievement, health & wellness, recreation attending local schools and living in communities surrounding Dodger Stadium through educational programs, civic engagement, strategic partnerships and student incentives.

CoS at Stadium 2-1On Friday, Principals and Teachers from Allessandro Elementary School, Ann Elementary School, Castellar Elementary School, Clifford Elementary School, Dorris Place Elementary School, Logan Elementary School, Solano Elementary School and King Middle School joined with the Dodgers to debrief and provide further feedback on “Dodgers Mathletics”.  Their participation helped us solicit the feedback that will strengthen this program and make it more appropriate and vital to students and math curriculum for the next school year.

Dodgers support Stephanie’s Day Autism Resource Fair – June 8, 2013

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IMG_6317On June 8, the Los Angeles Dodgers participated in the Stephanie’s Day, an autism resource fair at the CBS Studios. Stephanie’s Day provides families with children impacted by autism and other special needs one place to gather valuable information on programs and services for special needs and fun family activities including trying out their throwing skills in the Dodgers pitching inflatable. Dodgers Blue Crew, Community Relations and Group Sales representatives were on hand to show their support and to promote Autism Awareness Day at Dodger Stadium coming up on August 14. For more information, visit dodgers.com/autismspeaks or for groups of 30 or more call Emily Nuckols at the Dodgers at 323-224-2642.

Dodgers Youth Baseball Camp presented by Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Kid ShotThe Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation will hold two baseball camps this summer, June 25-28 and August 9, 12-14. Camp will feature daily instruction by members of the Dodgers Major League coaching staff and Dodger Alumni with special guest appearances by current Dodger players. Campers will learn about hitting, fielding, base running, throwing and pitching drills as well as team play, sportsmanship and conditioning. Enrollment is open to boys and girls, ages 7-12 as of the start date of camp session. All proceeds will benefit the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation. The June session is sold out but availability remains for the August session. Visit http://www.dodgers.com/camp for more details.

Dodgers Launch Mathletics to the Dodgers Community of Schools

LAD_13-Mathletics-1st-2nd-Grade-Workbook-CoverIn May 2013, the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation launched a new program, Dodgers Mathletics, a fun and engaging educational workbook for students to enhance and practice their math skills. Dodgers Mathletics promotes the importance of math to students in the first through eighth grade by offering a workbook filled with Dodger baseball related math exercises. The program consists of three different workbooks geared towards 1st-2nd, 3rd-5th and 6th-8th grades. This program is free to all schools. In its first year, ten schools located in the nearby Dodger community participated. Students who completed the workbook correctly received two ticket vouchers to a Dodger home game.

2013 Dodgers Mathletics Community of Schools:
• Allesandro Elementary School
• Ann Street Elementary School
• Castellar Elementary School
• Clifford Street Elementary School
• Dorris Place Elementary School
• Logan Street Elementary School
• Solano Avenue Elementary School
• Washington Irving Middle School
• Nightingale Middle School
• Thomas Starr King Middle School