Community Relations
The Rays have made a strong commitment to being community impact leaders throughout the region. Our 501(c)3 non-profit organization, the Rays Baseball Foundation, supports youth and education in the Tampa Bay area through grants, programs and scholarships.
Additionally, the Rays organization makes direct corporate gifts to countless non-profits with cash and in-kind donations. Executive staff members sit on the board of directors for numerous non-profit and community organizations throughout Tampa Bay.
Since 2008, the Rays have contributed over $10 million into the Tampa Bay community via financial and in-kind donations. This includes community partnerships with United Way Suncoast, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Moffitt Cancer Center and many more major community partners.
Rays player Matt Joyce and The Rays Baseball Foundation have partnered with the Tampa Bay Times Newspaper in Education program to devise a fun plan that will help keep kids reading over the summer with incentives for reaching a total of 24 hours. Kids visit their local libraries to participate and get prizes for reading around the bases. The 2012 summer reading program is supported by Advantica.
In 2012, Rays players B.J. Upton, David Price and Desmond Jennings have teamed up for the Rays Dugout Club, a club for children attending recreation centers in South St. Petersburg. The program continues to enrich the lives of the campers by providing valuable life skills to these at-risk youth. The Rays Dugout Club is a program of the Rays South St. Petersburg Neighborhood Initiative, an idea conceived by Rays employees who are residents of the neighborhoods surrounding Tropicana Field.The 2012 Dugout Club program is supported by Fresh for Florida Kids.
By leveraging the power of our brand, assets and resources, the Rays and our partners make a measurable difference in the community.
