BOSTON, MA – The Red Sox Foundation today announced that IMPACT Award voting is now open for fans to determine which mental health nonprofits are awarded a total of $90,000 in grant money for their work raising awareness and improving mental health outcomes in their communities. The annual award, which is presented in partnership with the Ruderman Family Foundation, presents the top three nonprofits in each state with $10,000, $3,000, and $2,000 grants respectively. Fans can vote for their favorite nonprofit by visiting redsox.com/IMPACT.

A total of five nonprofits in each of the six New England states have been chosen as finalists for the voting period, which runs through Wednesday, May 31. More than half of this year’s nominees are first-time finalists. In addition to the $10,000 grant, first place winners are invited to Fenway Park on June 14 for a check presentation during a pregame ceremony, tickets to a game, and recognition on the team and Foundation websites. 

“If the experiences of recent years have taught us anything about mental health, it is that the rising challenges surrounding this issue are not going away anytime soon,” says Jay Ruderman, President of the Ruderman Family Foundation. “Accordingly, we are honored to once again partner with the Red Sox Foundation in embracing the crucial responsibility to raise awareness and support for the organizations across the region that are tirelessly committed to ensuring that New Englanders receive the services and care they need. On a collective level, we must all continue to do our part to end the stigma around mental health.”

“We are honored to once again partner with the Ruderman Family Foundation on several mental health initiatives this year,” said Red Sox Foundation Executive Director Bekah Salwasser. “We see how challenging the current mental health epidemic is, which is why it’s critical to support the many New England nonprofits making a difference in this space through the IMPACT Awards. We are equally excited to reconvene for a mental health panel discussion this year which and continue our work to combat the stigma surrounding mental health in sports.”

Later this spring, the Red Sox Foundation and Ruderman Family Foundation will convene a panel discussion that will include officials from the Red Sox organization and the Ruderman Foundation, as well as attendees from finalist organizations. More details on the panel will be announced in the coming weeks.

The Red Sox Foundation and Ruderman Family Foundation have collaborated on a public service announcement featuring Red Sox Manager Alex Cora to further drive awareness around the need to end the stigma associated with mental health. Cora’s PSA can be viewed here.

The five finalists for each state are below:

*Indicates first time finalist for IMPACT Awards

About Ruderman Family Foundation

The Ruderman Family Foundation is an internationally recognized organization that works to end the stigma associated with mental health. The Foundation does this by identifying gaps in mental health resources and programs within the high school and higher education communities as well as by organizing other local and national programming and initiatives that raise greater awareness around the stigma.

The Ruderman Family Foundation believes that inclusion and understanding of all people is essential to a fair and flourishing community and imposes these values within its leadership and funding. For more information, please visit www.rudermanfoundation.org.