Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation

The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation 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. Founded in 2001 by members of the Ripken family in memory of their patriarch, Cal, Sr., the Foundation works to create programs that positively impact at-risk youth through active community partnerships with America’s most successful youth service organizations. The Ripken Foundation uses the baseball and softball field to help teach life’s critical lessons such as perseverance, loyalty, nutrition, hard work and leadership to young people residing in disadvantaged communities. The Foundation is also designing and building Youth Development Parks, multi-purpose, synthetic surface fields in underserved communities to give kids a clean and safe place to play and learn. The Ripken Foundation has impacted over 1 million kids nationwide through its Youth Development Park and Badges for Baseball programming.

The Kevin Harvick Foundation funded the construction of the Kevin Harvick Youth Development Park in Greensboro, N.C. The multi-purpose sports complex opened in 2015 and marked the 40th facility built by the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation for use by Boys & Girls Clubs across the country. The Kevin Harvick Foundation constructed their second youth development park in Harvick's hometown of Bakersfield, Calif., in 2016. A third park, The Jake Owen Field, is the latest in a string of projects with the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation and will be constructed in Vero Beach, Fla. The parks, located in an underserved community, feature a synthetic-surface, outdoor field suitable for soccer, baseball, flag football and lacrosse.