Rays Baseball Foundation Inc

Disaster reliefthe rays baseball foundation committed $1 million to hurricane relief efforts in the wake of the destruction caused by hurricanes helene and milton, collaborating with community partners and non-profit organizations serving the area with expertise in delivering aid.

Scholarshipsthe rays baseball foundation awarded $205,000 in scholarships through nonprofit partners for students in hillsborough, pinellas, pasco, manatee, and sarasota counties.

Rays jersey programsince 2014, the rays jersey program has outfitted more than 105,000 tampa bay area tee-ball players and coaches with jerseys and caps. The program covers more than 80 different leagues in nine area counties and has saved the leagues more than one million dollars in equipment costs. As a result of these savings, officials from some of the participating leagues have noted that they now have the ability to pass these savings along to participant families. They have also been able to repair their scoreboards, provide upgrades to dugouts, add fencing for fields, purchase additional equipment and grounds crew supplies and repair concession stands and other areas of their facilities. During 2024, the rays baseball foundation provided more than $120,000 worth of uniforms for local tee-ball players and coaches in the surrounding 9 counties.

Big game james clubthe big game james club, formerly known as the home run club, continues to offer a sense of stability and belonging to hundreds of foster children and adoptive families throughout tampa bay. Each season, with the help of family support servies, family resources, guardian ad litem, the heart gallery, ready for life and youth alternatives, over 500 foster children have become club members and attended a series of home games in the suite. Furthering the organization's support for foster children and families, the ballpark also plays host to a permanent heart gallery exhibit, displaying professional portraits and personal biographies of children waiting to be adopted.

Dominican republic community endeavorsthe rays baseball foundation coordinated renovations on escuela basica patria mirabal, a primary school adjacent to the rays baseball academy in guerra, dominican republic. The renovations allow the students to go to school in a safe and clean environment after a new roof and a bathroom were constructed. Additionally, schools supplies and uniforms were supplied to the students.

Reading with the rayssince 2006, the rays baseball foundation's summer reading program, reading with the rays presented by suncoast credit union, has encouraged kids to avoid summer reading loss by participating in a fun and interactive reading program over the summer months. More than 555,000 tampa bay area students from nine surrounding counties have participated since its inception. The program is made possible through a partnership with the tampa bay times newspaper in education, the rays and public library systems in charlotte, citrus, hernando, hillsborough, manatee, pasco, pinellas, polk and sarasota counties.

Team smilesince 2018, the rays have partnered with team smile, an advocacy group that partners dental professionals with professional athletic organizations to provide life-changing dental care to underserved children in their communities. In 2024, team smile provided free dental care to 162 children and educated 171 children from the local boys & girls clubs at tropicana field. The children received dental work completely free of charge, including x-rays, screenings, and educational material on how to protect their teeth valued at more than $73,000. The value of care provided since 2018 has totaled nearly $298,000.

Scripps national spelling beeduring 2024, the rays baseball foundation served as a regional partner of the scripps national spelling bee. As a regional partner, the foundation hosted a regional spelling bee at tropicana field open to all schools in the tampa bay community. The area champion, sponsored by rays baseball foundation and rowdies soccer fund, advanced to the national spelling and won in a dramatic tiebreaker spell-off, correctly spelling 29 words in 90 seconds.

Rowdiesthe rowdies soccer fund is dedicated to improving the lives of those in need within our community, focusing primarily on education, youth development, wellness, and social responsibility. Through programming and nonprofit giving, the rowdies soccer fund strives to energize our community through the magic of rowdies soccer.

Stemrays baseball operations staff taught stem curriculum at academy prep campuses in lakeland, tampa, and st. Petersburg. Across five days at each campus, staff members taught over 1,600 hours of lessons from the rays science of baseball program, which includes subjects such as geometry, physiology, and statistics. The program culminated with a career day at tropicana field.

Week of givingthe ray baseball foundation annual 'week of giving' returned the week of december 9, 2024 with a focus on volunteer efforts. The foundation partnered with a number of local non-profit organizations with a week of holiday donations and events for local families in need during the holiday season.