Empowerment
Center
Economic Empowerment Center
Home
About Us
Contact Us
How To Help
Events Page
Forum
Mission Statement
News
Other Charities
Success Stories
Victim Services
Youth Resources
Youth Services
Youth Programs
Youth Empowerment Center News Dodgers give back to community
Charity is year-round commitment for team, players
By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com
LOS ANGELES - 11/24/2004 - As the list below indicates, the Dodgers were busy in the community in 2004.
But that's nothing compared to new owner Frank McCourt's plans for 2005.
"We're going to take it to a substantially higher level in '05," said Howard Sunkin, the club's senior vice president of public affairs. "We're going to turn it up. The opportunities are endless."
The focal point of the organization's charitable effort is the Dodgers Dream Foundation, which was founded in 1998 to provide educational, athletic and recreation opportunities for youth of the Greater Los Angeles community. The foundation places special emphasis on helping traditionally underserved youth.
The Dodgers Dream Fields program is the foundation's signature initiative. It is a partnership among the Dodgers, Dodgers Dream Foundation, Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, local city officials and Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI). Erikk Aldridge, the Dodgers' director of community affairs, is president of the Dodgers Dream Foundation.
Sunkin said the program eventually will expand to include the placement of reading and learning facilities at the sports locations. Blending sports with education is only a part of McCourt's community outreach commitment.
Among the highlights of the year: Eric Gagne, Milton Bradley, David Ross and Jose Lima teamed up with the Dodgers Dream Foundation to donate over $25,000 in cash and product as a part of National Hunger Awareness Day in association with the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank. Also, the Dodgers Dream Foundation donated $5,000 to redesign and repaint the Dodger Pediatric Playroom at White Memorial Center.
Dodgers outfielder Shawn Green continues to donate $250,000 each year, for a total of $1.5 million over the term of his contract with the club, to the Dodgers Dream Foundation. The Dodgers also sponsor the Adopt-A-School program, Dodgers Reading Dugout, a number of Dodgers Wives fundraising events, player clinics, and visits to neighborhood schools and hospitals.
"We want to re-introduce the Dodgers brand to the youth of the community," Sunkin said. "When I was growing up here, it was part of the fabric of the Southern California community and it's gotten away from that. Frank's been emphatic about having a winning team as part of the community. Los Angeles and the Dodgers should be forever connected."
The Dodgers in December will begin what Sunkin describes as "an urban initiative," holding clinics throughout the area, not only in the city of Los Angeles, at all levels from Little League through Pony and Colt.
Following is a list of the Dodgers' charitable calendar by month:
January: Led by manager Jim Tracy, the Dodgers remodeled the Dodgers Pediatric Playroom at White Memorial Medical Center in Boyle Heights. The Dodgers Dream Foundation donated the $5,000 necessary to redesign and repaint the room that is used for children recovering from various illnesses and injuries.
February: The McCourt family visited the Algin Sutton Recreation Center in South Los Angeles along with Adrian Beltre to conduct a youth baseball clinic for local children.
March: Green led a contingency of players that spent the afternoon reading to over 100 children from Dodgertown Elementary as part of Read Across America Day in Vero Beach, Fla.
April: Dodgers Spanish language analyst Fernando Valenzuela was honored at City Hall as a part of the Los Amigos de Fernando program that brought children from Los Angeles to select Dodgers games throughout the season. The children and staff got the opportunity to meet Fernando on the field, where they received autographs and photos from the Dodgers legend.
May: Kazuhisa Ishii hosted a clinic at Dodger Stadium as a part of Japanese Community Week.
June: Bradley, Duaner Sanchez, John Shelby, Manny Mota, Tommy Davis and Drew McCourt visited the Dodgers Dream Field at Algin Sutton Recreation Center to celebrate Opening Day for youth baseball, and to urge children in the community to sign up for the youth baseball and RBI program.
Beltre received the Humanitarian Award at the annual RBI Hall of Fame Dinner for his work in the community.
Gagne received the Baseball Man of the Year Award at the annual SportsSpectacular Dinner benefiting Cedars Sinai Hospital's genetic defects unit.
July: Tracy and his wife, Deb, along with Lima, Beltre and their wives visited the recently remodeled Dodgers Pediatric Playroom at White Memorial Medical Center to deliver new toys and video games. The Dodgers wives also funded and supplied an arts and crafts program at the facility.
August: Hee-Seop Choi hosted a Korean-American Community Week baseball clinic at Dodger Stadium.
Dodgers players and wives through the Dodgers Dream Foundation donated new books to every classroom at Gratts Elementary near downtown Los Angeles as a part of the Dodgers Reading Dugout Program. Jim and Deb Tracy, Eric and Valerie Gagne, and Shawn and Lindsay Green among others participated in the event, signing autographs and passing out books to the children.
Gagne donated his record-setting, game-worn cap to the Dodgers Dream Foundation Jersey Day auction. The cap fetched $3,600 for the Dodgers Dream Foundation, and the event raised a record total of $70,000 for the Dodgers Dream Foundation.
McCourt, Green and Odalis Perez visited cancer and blood disease patients at Children's Hospital Los Angeles to kick off CHLA Night at Dodger Stadium. During a pregame ceremony, the Dodgers Dream Foundation donated $5,000 to the Jonnie Fund at CHLA.
September: Lima was the Dodgers' nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award and Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award for his commitment to fans and the community. He donated $5,000 to Padres Contra El Cancer as part of being the Clemente Award nominee.
Green was again named a "Good Guy" by the Sporting News for his commitment to the community, which has included the donation of $1.25 million to the Dodgers Dream Foundation, which has gone to help refurbish six youth ball fields and purchase thousands of books for local youth.
Bradley participated in the Dodgers Take a Dodger to School program. Bradley visited the fourth grade classroom of Joey Lopez, who attends Oakwood Academy in Long Beach.
Bradley established Bradley's Crew, which donates tickets and food coupons to local community groups. Bradley contributed $10,000 to start the program. Participants include children and staff from RBI, Watts Willowbrook Boys and Girls Club and Challenger's Boys and Girls Club.
Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Answer the Phone: Your Identity is on the Line
Beverly Hills, CA -- (ArriveNet - May 06, 2005) -- There hasn't been much good news in the battle against identity theft lately, with fraudsters staying one step ahead of the game. But don't panic, our old friend the telephone has come to the rescue.
We're all aware of the problem of identity theft, but did you know that your local pizza chain has had a solution for years? You recognize it as the system that prevents little Johnny from having twenty pizzas delivered to your door at midnight: the pizza chain calls you immediately after the order is placed to verify the validity of the order. Because little Johnny is afraid to be caught, he'll think twice about causing this pizza-related havoc.
TeleSign's patent-pending verification system has transferred this pizza concept to the high-tech world. It works like this: after filling out a form on a website, the user is prompted to enter his phone number. A robotic system then places a call to that number and speaks aloud a unique three digit code. Once that code is entered into the website, the authentication is complete. This system can be implemented at any point on a website: at registration, purchase, a specific time interval, or at the request of a user.
Email verification is the current standard for user authentication, but email may end up filtered, junked, bulked, or trashed. Because of spam, viruses, and phishing, email filtering has become so aggressive that even legitimate emails don't reach the inbox. But a telephone call cannot be stopped, making this the perfect time for the introduction of TeleSign’s solution.
The future of ecommerce is threatened by rampant fraud and lack of trust. TeleSign will force anonymous users to expose their faces by revealing their working phone numbers.
To try an interactive demo, visit (http://www.telesign.com/demo2/demo.asp) and have your phone ready.
For more information about TeleSign’s products and services, visit (http://www.telesign.com/demo2/) or email press2@telesign.com.
About TeleSign Corp.
TeleSign is a leader in innovative internet security solutions and provider of intelligent telephone-based verification solutions for any entity conducting business online where trust is essential and where fraud is a concern. TeleSign’s patent-pending Verification System provides a critical layer of security for the e-commerce world and is a proven deterrent against ill-intentioned web users. The company’s first product, the TeleSign Verification System, blends the latest internet, security and telephony technologies into a powerful new tool to combat fraud and enhance trust in e-business.
TeleSign Corp. seeks to provide simplified solutions for any company conducting business online where trust is essential and where fraud is a concern. TeleSign’s patent-pending Verification System provides a critical layer of security for the e-commerce world and is a proven deterrent against ill-intentioned web users. TeleSign’s Verification System is able to legitimize a web user’s claimed identification at a miniscule cost and with little inconvenience to all parties involved.
TeleSign’s Verification System is based upon the premise that ill-intentioned web users hesitate to disclose their working phone numbers. By placing a computer-generated telephone call coupled with a unique security code, we insist that a web user provide a legitimate telephone number or be rooted out. The company’s first product, the TeleSign Verification System, blends the latest internet, security and telephony technologies into a powerful new tool to combat fraud in e-commerce.
Visit http://www.telesign.com/demo2/ or call 310-276-5900 for more information.
TeleSign Corporation
Contact: Sam Gonen
Telephone: (310) 276-7843
Email: press2@telesign.com
Youth Empowerment
Lorraine Bowman, President
4249 Manzanita Drive
San Diego, California 92105
info@empowering-youth.org
