MLB, Dodgers Foundation promote literacy at local elementary

LOS ANGELES -- Major League Baseball has made it a mission to give back to local communities that host jewel events such as the All-Star Game and the World Series, and it was again the case ahead of Game 1 of the Fall Classic between the Dodgers and Yankees on Friday.

MLB, the Dodgers and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) hosted a legacy project at Clifford Elementary School, which is located near Dodger Stadium and received a renovated outdoor area to help inspire students to read and learn in an open-air space. It was done in partnership with the Catching Hope Foundation started by Dodgers catcher Will Smith and his wife, Cara, and part of the Dodgers’ and LADF’s broader LA Reads program.

Each elementary school student received four books to take home, and the library also received 200 new books. Students were treated to a special ceremony to unveil the new space, and former Dodgers Orel Hershiser and Dennis Powell were on hand along with former All-Stars Jason Kendall, Adam Jones and Dexter Fowler. They were joined by April Brown, MLB’s senior VP of social responsibility & diversity; Kristin McCowan, the Dodgers’ VP of government and community affairs; and Nichol Whiteman, CEO of the Dodgers Foundation.

“This outdoor space is going to allow the students here to learn to grow, to read, play and nurture their own garden,” Brown said. “What's really important is that this is part of the Dodgers’ LA Reads program. Today, over 200 books were given out to the students, and they now have an actual literacy corner that they can come to during the day to enjoy the outdoors and to be able to read. With MLB Together, through all of our jewel events, we want to leave a legacy behind.”

Smith, who is slated to play in his second career World Series (also with the Dodgers in 2020), was scheduled to be at the event but had to cancel because his wife gave birth to their second child on Tuesday, a daughter named Layton Elizabeth. Smith, who worked closely with the school and previously visited the students, released the following statement:

“We are thrilled to unveil our first impact initiative at Clifford Elementary School, which embodies everything we strive for at the Catching Hope Foundation. In partnership with MLB and the Dodgers, we created both a vibrant mural and an outdoor library space to support the first literacy program. What makes this project so special is how personalized it is to students’ specific needs. We believe in providing targeted resources that make the most impact for each school we work with. The relationships we've built over the last year with the staff and students have been incredibly rewarding, and we're grateful to be part of their educational journey.”

Hershiser, a Dodgers legend and MVP of the 1988 World Series, said it was important to be there and for the organization to give back to the local community. Hershiser and Powell met with each student after the ceremony and handed out Dodgers caps as well.

“Everybody can make it to their own World Series,” Hershiser said. “It might not be as a baseball player, but they can make it in their own World Series in life, and so contributing like this, helping out with literacy, helping places that need help, it can make a special place like we have right here.”

Principal Pamela Gray praised the Dodgers for how active they are in the community and was excited that they chose to work so closely with her school. The LA Reads program has distributed more than 25,000 books to local schools since 2017.

“We have just had an awesome experience with the Dodgers Dream Foundation, the L.A. Dodgers themselves [and] with the Catching Hope Foundation with Will Smith,” Gray said. “We are all very grateful. Literacy is so important to our students, and now, they will be able to have this beautiful literacy reading corner.”

This was the first of three literacy corner renovations: Two more will be unveiled at local schools in 2025. It is also just the first of several World Series legacy projects that will impact the community going forward.

“We're really excited to be able to showcase what we do in the community, and this World Series gives us this opportunity to really be able to shine a light on our literacy program,” Whiteman said. “It's just really important for us to make sure that Los Angeles understands that this entire thing is for them.”