originally posted on the Rays website

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays Baseball Foundation, the official charity of the Tampa Bay Rays, today awarded a total of $150,000 to three local nonprofit organizations through the club's All-Star Grant.

Each receiving $50,000 are the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay for their Sports Buddies program; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Pinellas, Hernando and Citrus counties for their Sports Buddies program; and Community Tampa Bay for their Anytown program. Representatives for each nonprofit organization accepted checks from the Rays Baseball Foundation at an announcement ceremony today at Tropicana Field.

Through grants and fundraisers, the Rays Baseball Foundation has now invested $600,000 into the local community during the 2008 calendar year.

"The Rays Baseball Foundation and the entire Rays organization embrace the responsibility of investing back in our community," said Rays President Matt Silverman. "While our team has made headlines this year, the work of the Rays Baseball Foundation and of these organizations deserves the headlines for the life-long impacts they can make on children and families throughout Tampa Bay."

The Rays Baseball Foundation focuses primarily on youth and education programs in the Tampa Bay region that make a measurable difference in the Tampa Bay community. The Foundation's All-Star Grant selection process started in May with a candidate pool of 39 community nonprofit agencies. The All-Star Grant provides substantial monetary support to help fulfill the Foundation's mission.

Key contributors to the foundation include Rays owners, sponsors, fans, employees and players. All Rays players currently signed to multi-year contracts contribute to the Rays Baseball Foundation and its programs. The first players to contribute to the Foundation were Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli.

Since then, the group has expanded to include Akinori Iwamura, Scott Kazmir, Evan Longoria, Carlos Peña, Troy Percival, James Shields and Dan Wheeler. Collectively, these players will contribute more than $1 million over the length of their contracts.

Big Brothers Big Sisters helps children reach their potential through one-to-one mentoring relationships with measureable impact. Sports Buddies is a program that recruits mentors and gives them an opportunity to spend time with a child either watching or playing a sport.

The mission of Community Tampa Bay is to promote dialogue and respect among all cultures. Anytown is a unique youth leadership and diversity awareness program for high school students. The goal is to provide young people with the skills and knowledge that will empower them to create inclusive schools and communities.

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Rays Foundation Awards Nonprofits>>

Rays award $150,000 to local nonprofits>>