WCBC

September 27th, 2016 by WCBC Radio

U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) today announced that the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation (CRSF) has been awarded a $2,000,000 federal grant through the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention program. These federal grant funds will help the foundation provide mentoring opportunities for at-risk youth in Maryland and 18 other states.

As Vice Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee as well as the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Mikulski included $90 million in grant funding administered by the Department of Justice for mentoring programs supporting at-risk youth as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016. 

“Prevention and intervention programs targeting at-risk youth are a critical tool in changing the direction in the lives of young people,” Vice Chairwoman Mikulski said. “I believe in putting money in the federal checkbook to create an investment in organizations like the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation, which provides mentoring programs to help children learn and grow in a safe environment. This national program not only provides activities and services, but role models like Baltimore’s Cal Ripken, Jr., who can truly make a difference.”

CRSF will use these funds to support their Badges for Baseball program, which uses baseball- and softball-themed programs to help build character and teach critical life lessons to underserved youth residing in America’s most distressed communities. The program combines character education with healthy activity while engaging volunteers and law enforcement officers as mentors to foster positive relationships between youth and police. More than 450 youth attended this year’s CRSF’s Summer Camp. Nationwide, 1,006,247children were engaged in the CRSF programs in 177 communities in 18 states in 2015. In Maryland, this included roughly 1,400 youth.

The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation, headquartered in Baltimore, Md., is a 501c(3) non-profit organization, working throughout the country with local organizations and schools serving America’s most distressed communities. CRSF is a supporting partner to those organizations who, on a daily basis, play such a critical role in developing, inspiring and saving young lives.