History
Awards
- 2008 Crystal Award for Outstanding Foundation, by the Association of Fundraising Professionals-Memphis Chapter
- 2007 Steve Patterson Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy, by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Sports Philanthropy Project
- 2006 Corporate Volunteer Council Partnership Award, by Volunteer Memphis
We began as the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Fund in December 2001, when the Grizzlies made a very bold decision: Grant $1 million to a fledgling youth sports ministry, with merely 800 participants, to build a state-of-the-art neighborhood center for the youth in the Alcy-Ball neighborhood of Memphis.
Today, that ministry has since received over $7 million to expand their program to eleven sites (and growing) serving over 15,000 youth from all parts of Shelby County.
To further focus on serving at-risk youth in the city of Memphis and providing resources to support the organizations that were serving these youth, the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation was officially established in 2004. Prior to the Foundation, the Grizzlies made charitable donations through Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Fund, a donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis.
In 2007, the TEAM UP Youth Mentoring Initiative was launched to expand mentoring throughout the Greater Memphis area. Emphasis is placed on the recruitment and retention of volunteer mentors. In 2008, the Memphis Mentoring Partnership, an affiliate of MENTOR/ The National Mentoring Partnership, became part of the Grizzlies Foundation.
The Grizzlies Foundation is led by the ownership group of the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team.
Top Gifts:
- $7 Million: Memphis Athletic Ministries for Memphis Grizzlies Athletic Center, a first-class public gymnasium available to neighborhood youth; home for a program with more than 15,000 youth in sports leagues and 10 satellite centers.
- $5 Million: Memphis Grizzlies House, a short-term family residence at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
- $1.5 Million: Grizzlies Academy, a “second-chance” public high school for teens 2+ years behind grade level.
- $1.5 Million: Stax Music Academy, an after-school and summer program offering tutoring, music instruction and music performance opportunities to Soulsville neighborhood youth. The Academy is also the beneficiary of “Staxtacular,” a Grizzlies player-led annual fundraiser at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, which has raised over $400,000 since 2006.