Twins announce donations to nonprofits to address gaps in education

An effort designed to advance social equity by investing in children was unveiled by the Twins on Wednesday morning.

The team said the plan, which it calls a "giving charter," would be focused on eliminating racial and socioeconomic opportunity gaps in youth education and development.

Developed in collaboration with nonprofit partners, community leaders and the Pohlad Family Foundation, the charter is supported through $380,000 in team and Twins Community Fund gifts to 26 nonprofits.

In a release, the team said, "The Minnesota Twins will advance social equity by leveraging our resources to ensure every child has the same opportunity for success. We believe equity in access to educational and developmental opportunities is essential in eliminating socioeconomic disparities. Building upon our longstanding community foundations, we will work to remove the barriers to access traditionally faced by underserved children, especially Black, Indigenous and People of Color, along with other wrongfully-marginalized individuals or groups.

"We are committed to shaping a society for children in which racism or inequality has no place. Our work, along with our partners', will focus on creating meaningful and inclusive changes that empower every child to reach their full potential."

The Pohlad family previously announced it will commit $25 million to advance racial justice.

"The Twins and our partners do not view our state and region as having 'achievement' gaps, as each and every one of our kids is truly capable of anything; rather, we have pronounced 'opportunity' discrepancies," Twins President Dave St. Peter said in the release. "While we at the Twins cannot pretend to have all the solutions ourselves, we will continue listening to, learning from and supporting the efforts of our community partners, who are tirelessly working to facilitate equal access to opportunities for all youth.

"By creating equity for our children now, we are creating future equity for all."

Ongoing support to the nonprofits will be provided through additional cash contributions, in-kind resources and employee engagement.

The regional nonprofits are ACES, Achiev Minneapolis, BestPrep, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities, Channel One Regional Food Bank, Every Meal, Generation Next, Genesys Works, Hunger Solutions, Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest, MIGIZI, Neighborhood House, Northside Achievement Zone, Partnership for a Connected MN, Pillsbury United Communities, Playworks Minnesota, Project for Pride in Living, Project Success, Reading Partners Twin Cities, Roots for the Home Team, TeamSmile, Urban League Twin Cities, Urban Ventures, YouthLink, YMCA Minneapolis and Youthprise.