The Miami Marlins today announced the 2018 Marlins Foundation Charity Partners: Dibia DREAM, Guitars Over Guns Organization, Special Olympics Florida--Miami-Dade County, and The Education Fund. The four organizations will each receive a $25,000 contribution from the Marlins Foundation. Since the program's inception in 2012, more than 20 organizations have held the distinction of Marlins Charity Partner and more than $1.5 million has been invested in these organizations.  
 
The Marlins Foundation is also awarding four $10,000 grants to Best Buddies Florida, Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Urban Health Partnerships, and Young At Art of Broward in support of their continued missions to impact the South Florida community. 
 
In addition to financial support, Marlins Charity Partners activate specific programming aligned with the mission of the Marlins Foundation. These partnerships are celebrated with Charity Partner Days at Marlins Park for each organization, in which each will be honored during a ceremony with a check presentation. Below is a brief description of the 2018 Marlins Charity Partners. 
 

• Dibia DREAM (Charity Partner Day: May 26) is a sports-based afterschool program that promotes athleticism and educational achievement. This academy serves over 400 Miami students, and is offered at no cost to children and their families. After school programming includes academic tutoring, STEAM projects, field trips, and sports and health clinics. 
   
  
• Guitars Over Guns Organization (Charity Partner Day: July 13) provides a comprehensive arts-based mentoring program at select Miami-Dade County schools. Students in GOGO receive myriad artistic and musical connections and experiences; they learn to read and write music; play instruments and perform on stage and in a recording studio.   
   
  
• The Marlins will be the official sponsor of Special Olympics Softball in Miami-Dade County (Charity Partner Day: August 24). The Marlins have made it possible to grow the 24-year old softball program, to serve more than 500 area youth in 2017. Program elements include individual skills assessment clinic, Marlins Invitational for unified teams and County and State competitions. 
   
  
• The Education Fund (Charity Partner Day: September 4) will use funds provided to help with the expansion of Food Forests in five additional schools. The funds will also allow the current 16 Food Forests to fully recover from Hurricane Irma. This program will also include harvests distributions to families and parent nutrition workshops.