The sixth annual Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation Blue Diamond Gala featured a set by DJ D-Nice and Jennifer Lopez concert to cap off a night that saw a record-breaking $3.6 million raised to support the organization’s mission to improve education, healthcare, homelessness, and social justice.
The event, aptly nicknamed “The Party for LA,” was attended by current and former Dodgers players, manager Dave Roberts, coaches, front office members, broadcasters and celebrities. Mario Lopez and Adrián González hosted an “Everyday Champions” program where attendees heard from Dante Reese, a youth program participant of Brotherhood Crusade.
While the Blue Diamond Gala has become a staple of the Dodgers Foundation, the event on Thursday was the first since 2019.
“This is so exciting,” Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation CEO Nichol Whiteman told DodgerBlue.com from the blue carpet. “To have our 2022 Dodgers Foundation Blue Diamond Gala at Dodger Stadium tonight feels surreal. Especially after the last two and a half years that we’ve had. We think about how in March 2020, we all had to stop and do things differently.
“We couldn’t have our gala, but to be here tonight, celebrating those everyday champions, those heroes who didn’t stop, who in their own communities made sure that kids were still fed, kids were still educated, kids were still able to participate in recreational activities. That’s what tonight is about.
“It’s about all of us coming together as partners, whether that be ownership group, the front office, our players, our youth beneficiaries, everybody, to say we did it and we’re going to continue to do it.”
Dodgers owner Mark Walter added: “It’s so great to be back so we can really celebrate all the great work that’s being done by the foundation and to thank all the people that donate to it and make it happen. And it feels like we’re getting back to normal too.”
Funding Dodgers Dreamfields
Money raised from the Blue Diamond gala will help the LADF in funding various initiatives, including their goal of 75 Dodgers Dreamfields by 2033.
“We’ll also be providing grants to local non-profit organizations. We’ll make sure that we’re sharing the love with non-profit organizations who are doing so well and deserve to share in this Dodgers brand,” Whiteman said.
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