The LA84 Foundation announced Friday that has awarded $1 million in grants to Southern California school-based and community youth sports organizations.
The grants are intended to serve nearly 30,000 children involved in 16 sports across seven counties, and benefit various organizations and programs.
The LA84 Foundation’s grants will help with field refurbishment for improved playing conditions and increased safety for participants, as well as coaching education and supporting the expansion of sports opportunities for young people with physical disabilities, the foundation said.
“We are inspired by program leaders, parents and coaches from throughout Southern California who are continuing to push to close the `play equity gap,”’ said Renata Simril, the LA84 Foundation president and CEO. “Working with these organizations to ensure that structured sports are available to all kids, regardless of where they live, their ability level or their family’s income, is a critical part of growing the movement for play equity.”
The grants include:
— For A Walk on Water, which serves four counties including Los Angeles, a $15,000 grant to provide surf therapy to children who have a disability,
— A $25,000 grant for Pools of Hope of Los Angeles will fund their adaptive swim program for lessons and one-on-one therapeutic swim lessons,
— Redlands Baseball/Softball for Youth will receive a $20,000 grant to assist the refurbishment and renovation of several of the fields utilized by the program at Community Park in Redlands,
— For Street Soccer USA, Inc., a $75,000 grant will provide underserved homeless children access to a structured sports program,
— A $204,742 grant will help THINK Together deliver structured sports programs at 56 school sites across three counties: Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino,
— And at YMCA Metro Los Angeles, a $200,000 grant will help fund the Physical Learning Activities for Youth school-based program for kindergarten through eighth-grade students.