DEDHAM, April 10, 2023 – The Trustees of the Yawkey Foundation today announced $970,000 in Program & Small Capital grant funding to 19 Youth & Amateur Athletics nonprofit organizations in Greater Boston dedicated to providing access to high-quality athletic and recreation programs. The funding is in addition to the $90,000 in grants awarded to nine baseball and softball-focused nonprofit programs announced on February 23, 2023, commemorating the 90th anniversary of Tom Yawkey buying the Boston Red Sox, initiating 68 years of continuous Yawkey ownership of the team.
With the announcement of this 2023 cohort of grants, the Yawkey Foundation will have invested more than $94 million in philanthropic support since 1977 for Youth & Amateur Athletics nonprofits serving individuals, families and communities in Massachusetts and Georgetown County, South Carolina.
“Tom Yawkey and his wife Jean Yawkey were passionate about baseball, not only because they truly loved the game, but also because they realized how team sports could build important skills and characteristics that benefit young players off the field – such as respect, teamwork, and sportsmanship,” said Maureen H. Bleday, CEO of Yawkey Foundation. “These outstanding nonprofits are providing innovative ways to enable children and young adults to participate in enriching activities, with many of them doing so by removing barriers that might otherwise preclude participation and enjoyment. We believe that is exactly what Tom and Jean would have supported if they were with us today.”
Tom Yawkey grew up around the game of baseball, with his uncle (who was also his adopted father) William Yawkey as co-owner of the Detroit Tigers baseball team from 1903 – 1919. Tom played intramural baseball while he was a student at Yale University, and as team owner of the Boston Red Sox, which remained under Yawkey ownership from 1933 to 2002, he could often be found participating in batting practice or watching a game with fans in the stands.
The following are the Youth & Amateur Athletics nonprofits are among those organizations receiving 2023 grant funding from Yawkey Foundation, including the nine nonprofits recently-awarded Yawkey “90 for 90” grants:
| A Sporting Chance/Boston Baseball Camp | Jackie Robinson Foundation |
| Adaptive Sports New England | Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston |
| All Dorchester Sports and Leadership | Jimmy Fund Little League – Dana-Farber Cancer Institute |
| Bay State Games | Old Colony Young Mens Christian Association |
| Boston Park League | Pan-Mass Challenge |
| Boston Slammers Girls Baseball | Project Hope |
| Boys & Girls Clubs of Dorchester | Ron Burton Training Village |
| Brockton Baseball | South End Athletics & Activities Association |
| BSA – Mayflower Council | Special Olympics of Massachusetts |
| Cape Cod Baseball League | SummerFund – Philanthropy Mass |
| CBA Roberto Clemente League of Lowell | The BASE |
| Crossroads for Kids | Yawkey Baseball League |
| Good Sports | YMCA of Greater Boston |
The Yawkey Foundation is dedicated to perpetuating the philanthropic legacy of Tom Yawkey and Jean Yawkey, whose eight decades of quiet generosity supported individuals and families in the communities that were closest to their hearts – Massachusetts and Georgetown County, South Carolina. Having awarded more than $550 million to date in charitable grants to organizations focused on health care, education, human services, youth and amateur athletics, arts and culture, and conservation and wildlife, the Yawkey Foundation is committed to preserving and sustaining the charitable values of the Yawkeys by investing in nonprofits that provide resources, opportunity, and dignity to the vulnerable and underserved.
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