February 8, 2012

The LA84 Foundation Partnership with the Dodgers Continues

The LA84 Foundation, the Dodgers Dream Foundation, and the City of Los Angeles Recreation and Parks are continuing the partnership to provide improved baseball field facilities to Los Angeles residents. In 2011, the partnership dedicated nine Dodgers Dreamfieflds throughout Los Angeles at Northridge Recreation Center (February 15), Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center (April 2), Pecan Recreation Center (May 14), Lemon Grove Recreation Center (June 11), Pan Pacific Park (July 21), Valley Plaza Park (August 13), two at Ritchie Valens Recreation Center (November 19), and Toberman Recreation Center (December 19).

The first of two Los Angeles City Recreation and Park fields to be renovated in the first quarter of 2012 was dedicated on February 8. Those on hand for the dedication ceremony at Normandie Recreation Center included Honorable Ed P. Reyes, Councilmember, District 1, Anita DeFrantz, President, LA84 Foundation, Howard Sunkin, Senior Vice President, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Regina Adams, Executive Officer, Department of Recreation and Parks.

The ceremony concluded the Dodgers’ ninth annual Community Caravan. Dodgers Jerry Hairston, Josh Lindblom, and James Loney were present alongside Dodger Alumni Bobby Castillo, “Sweet” Lou Johnson, Kenny Landreaux, Derrel Thomas, Fernando Valenzuela, and Maury Wills. Following the dedication, the players led a clinic on the new field.

Video Recap of 2011 Dodger Dreamfield

“The LA84 Foundation is pleased to have partnered with the Dodgers Dream Foundation and the City of Los Angeles Recreation and Parks to create a Dodgers Dreamfield at Normandie Park,” said LA84 Foundation President Anita L. DeFrantz. “As the demographics have shifted around Normandie Park the love of baseball has remained constant. The boys and girls who frequent the park now have the perfect place in which to practice and play the sport they love. It will be an inspiration to many to excel in an off the field.”

“There is no better way to end our two-day caravan than here, at Normandie Recreation Center, where we’ve dedicated our 20th Dodgers Dreamfield,” said Dodgers Dream Foundation Director and Senior Vice President, Los Angeles Dodgers, Howard Sunkin.

“I am very pleased that through the efforts of the Dodgers Dream Foundation, the LA84 Foundation and the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, we completed nine new Dodgers Dreamfields in parks throughout the City of Los Angeles in 2011 and will now be doing two more Dreamfields in early 2012,” said Jon Kirk Mukri, General Manager, Department of Recreation and Parks. “The Department of Recreation and Parks has a long history of working together with both business and non-profit partners to bring improved services to the communities and residents of Los Angeles. We will do whatever it takes to continue our steadfast commitment to promoting youth sports and active lifestyles through athletic activities.”

Field improvements at Normandie Recreation’s Dodgers Dreamfield include new chain link fencing on the backstop and outfield fence lines, dugout roofs, concrete floor and player benches in the dugouts, batting cage netting, infield mix, bases, a pitching rubber and home plate, a field box, a solar powered LED scoreboard, signage, expanded dugouts, and reestablished infield and outfield radii.