Aaron Judge, New York Yankee and former Fresno State Bulldog, and founder of the Aaron Judge ALL RISE Foundation (AJARF) is proud to announce the Spring 2021 Mini-Grant recipients, each receiving $2,500. These three organizations connect with the AJARF’s mission to inspire children and youth to become responsible citizens and reach unlimited possibilities.
Foster and Homeless Youth (FHY) Services Program, San Joaquin County, California assists and empowers all systems that support students who are homeless or in foster care. Through support and their voice, foster and homeless youth gain life skills and academic success, empowering them to be self-sufficient and to thrive. The Mini-Grant funding will help subsidize the students in the program to provide groceries, gasoline, clothes, public transportation, laundry, and toiletries. Supporting a student’s basic needs directly supports children and youth experiencing difficult circumstances related to health, finances, housing and family. This can reduce the amount of trauma they experience, and help mitigate learning loss, and support gains in all other educational areas.
CASA of Fresno and Madera County, Fresno County, California is The Voice That Matters For Foster Youth and serves them by empowering volunteers to advocate for them in the court system. CASA recruits, trains and supports community volunteers to serve as advocates to mentor and provide independent observations and reports for high-risk children in foster care. CASA volunteers help each child transition from foster care to a healthy, successful future, whether through family reunification, adoption, or as an independent adult. They are utilizing their grant to create an event, Self- Care is Not Selfish, to honor CASA Advocates and staff members as well as provide programs for team building, mental health awareness, self-care, and wellbeing session to improve and mitigate the effect of advocating foster youth in the most severe of cases.
Bronx Compass High School, Bronx County, New York is developing a Youth Leadership Council and Mentoring Program. Students will learn skills and strategies about becoming an effective leader, begin creating projects to help evaluate and build resources and strategies to inspire school change and equity. Student leaders will be identified and supported with space, time and guidance for developing essential youth leadership skills. They will foster deeper connections between all stakeholders in their community (students, families, staff members, neighborhood) on the foundation of educating and nurturing equitable opportunities.
“The Spring 2021 Mini-Grant recipients align perfectly with our Mission. It is exciting to give youth a chance to succeed by supporting organizations that provide them with stability and leadership,” said Aaron Judge. “The AJARF is pleased to support these organizations and recognize them for their creative programs.”
The 2021 Mini-Grant Award Program is possible due to the generous support of Glu Mobile. All funds donated for the Aaron Judge ALL RISE Mini-Grant Program go directly to children and youth programs in San Joaquin County, California; Fresno County, California; Bronx County, New York, that support ongoing citizenship and education development.