CAL RIPKEN SR FOUNDATION INC

The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation helps build character and teach critical life lessons to at-risk youth residing in America’s most distressed communities.

WHO WE SERVE AND WHY
During his 37-year career with the Baltimore Orioles, Cal Ripken, Sr. taught the basics of life and the game to players big and small. After he passed away in 1999, his sons Cal and Bill recognized that not every child is lucky enough to have such a great mentor and role model. In this spirit, they and their family started the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation in 2001 to honor his legacy. By teaching kids how to make positive choices no matter what life throws at them, the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation strives to help underserved youth fulfill their promise and become healthy, self-sufficient, and successful adults. The Foundation provides training, equipment, and resources to support youth development to encourage an active lifestyle. In 2016, we impacted over 1,200,000 youth with the help of 994 youth partners and law enforcement agencies in 43 states, Washington, D.C, Canada, Nicaragua, and Puerto Rico.

WHAT WE DO
• Badges for Baseball – Our signature program builds partnerships between law enforcement and youth-serving organizations. We train officers as the coaches and mentors to improve relationships between at-risk youth and law enforcement.

• Healthy Choices, Healthy Children – Our character education curriculum flipbooks provide adult coaches with tools to help impact at-risk youth. With these tools, coaches help kids make positive, healthy choices for a successful and fulfilling life, teaching them lessons about respect, personal responsibility, communication, and teamwork.

• Ripken Summer Camp – Our youth-serving partners select deserving kids who are currently participating in our year-round program from across the country to come to Aberdeen, MD for an all-expenses paid, weeklong camp. During their experience, children learn from trained coaches, interact with kids from around the country, and experience overnight camp with activities such as swimming, ropes course, and playing baseball.

• College Day Experience – These one-day events provide youth in our year-round program with their first exposure to college life and all that it has to offer. Kids experience the joy of walking and playing on a college campus as well as meeting coaches and athletes.

NEW PROGRAM INITIATIVES IN 2017
• I’m GREAT (Girls Respecting Each Other And Themselves) – Our new girls’ leadership program targets middle school-aged girls and aims to positively impact them through direct programming and female mentorship. Throughout this program, young girls will understand why the decisions they make now will influence their lives in the future.

• STEM Initiative – In 2016, we started phase one of our STEM initiative with the creation of 10 Ripken Foundation STEM Centers throughout the U.S., each equipped with resources to teach a fun and engaging STEM program. We completed phase two with the development of the Ripken Foundation STEM Center Curriculum Guidebook which is a resource for mentors at our STEM centers to teach STEM activities.

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PARKS

The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation is building multipurpose, synthetic surface parks across the country. Since 2009, we have completed 74 parks impacting over 280,000 at-risk youth in 21 states and Washington, D.C. The Foundation has many more parks across the country that are under construction or in fundraising or design stages. As safe havens to learn, play, and grow, these parks will be symbols of hope in distressed neighborhoods. These ballparks will serve as home fields for youth development programs for years to come.