Rays award $100,000 to local nonprofits

On Sunday, September 20, the Rays awarded a total of $100,000 to 20 local nonprofit organizations through the second cycle of the 2015 Community Fund Grant Program.

The nonprofit grant recipients were recognized during a welcome reception and a pregame ceremony at Tropicana Field. Guests had a chance to network with other charities and also participated in an on-field check presentation ceremony with Rays President Brian Auld and first baseman James Loney.

The Rays Community Fund Grant Program provides assistance to local nonprofits in the Tampa Bay region. Grants averaging $5,000 are awarded to help enhance current programs offered by community-based charities that support youth and education. To date, the Community Grant Fund Program has awarded more than 228 grants to organizations totaling $1,177,500.

This is the second round of grants from the 2015 program. The applications for the 2016 Community Fund Grant Program will open in spring 2016 and will be available at raysbaseball.com/grants.  

The following 20 organizations and their corresponding programs will be supported by the Rays 2015 Community Fund Grant: 

Organization                                                                      Program

AMIKids, Inc.                                                                      Center for Personal Growth

Camelot Community Care, Inc.                                             Adoption Support Program

Community Stepping Stones, Inc.                                        ATLAS Project

DMG School Project, Inc.                                                    GET FIRED UP! Program

ECHO of Brandon, Inc.                                                        Nutrition and New Essentials for Kids

Front Porch Community Development Association, Inc.        YIELD IT Program

The Glazer Children's Museum                                              Museum at the Library

Learn Tampa Bay                                                                Helping Children Succeed in School Program

Manatee Education Foundation, Inc.                                     Boys Club for Change

Oasis Network of New Tampa, Inc.                                       School Uniforms for Hillsborough County, Title I students

PACE Center for Girls, Inc.                                                  Getting Girls to School Project

PCAT                                                                                  Saturday Reading and STEAM Initiative

St. Petersburg College Foundation, Inc.                               First Generation Scholarship Initiative

St. Petersburg Free Clinic, Inc.                                             Pack a Snack 4 Kids

Success 4 Kids & Families                                                  Successful Students Program

The Cypress Initiative, Inc.                                                   Spark Inside Mentoring Program

The Florida Dream Center                                                    Adopt-A-Block

The Salvation Army, St. Petersburg Area Command              Afterschool Tutoring Program

The Sky Family YMCA, Inc.                                                  Children and Family Scholarship Fund

UMCM Suncoast                                                                 Families Learning Together (FLT) Program