Dream Foundation?s marquee program will teach the game of baseball and provide after-school educational programs for children in Wards 7 and 8.
The Washington Nationals Dream Foundation is excited to announce that The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation has committed $250,000 in support of the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy.
In appreciation of this gift, the Marriott Foundation will be recognized as a Founding Partner of the Youth Baseball Academy and will receive naming rights for one of the facility?s three new baseball fields. In addition, the Foundation will receive prominent recognition throughout the Academy, including on the Donor Recognition Wall in the central atrium and on one of the scoreboards.
?As the Nationals enter the playoffs, I look forward to the role baseball can play in shaping the lives of our inner city youth,? said J.W. Marriott, Jr., trustee of the Marriott Foundation and executive chairman of Marriott International, Inc. ?The Academy will teach kids how to hit a home run on and off the field.?
Developed in partnership with the District of Columbia, the Youth Baseball Academy will operate as a year-round youth development program committed to teaching the fundamentals of baseball and softball while providing after-school and summer educational programs for youth in neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River.
?This donation from the Marriott Foundation is an unbelievable gift that we at the Dream Foundation plan to utilize to the fullest,? Nationals Principal Owner and Dream Foundation Chair Marla Lerner Tanenbaum said. “The Marriott family is a great Washington family, and we are thrilled to have their name associated with the youth baseball academy, gracing one of our fields. Like other Washingtonians, I appreciate their continued commitment to the D.C. community.”
The gift from the Marriott Foundation will offset costs associated with the construction of the Youth Baseball Academy, which will include three baseball fields and an 18,000 square foot state-of-the-art educational facility featuring classrooms, community rooms, a teaching kitchen and indoor training facilities.
For more information on the Youth Baseball Academy, visit www.nationals.com/dream.
To lean more about the Marriott Foundation?s support, read Bill Marriott?s blog.