10 in 10: Dream Foundation builds off success to introduce new initiative

From the time they arrived from Montreal before the 2005 season, the Nationals have been a mainstay in the Washington, D.C., sports scene. But the Nats are also very active in the community, working diligently over the past decade to touch the lives of many in the region and proving that baseball has a further reach than wins and losses, balls and strikes, batters and pitchers. Each Thursday through mid-August, MASNsports.com's Byron Kerr will explore the Nationals' community outreach efforts, showing how far their reach has extended and how deeply committed to Washington, D.C., and the surrounding area the Nationals are.

The Nationals are celebrating their 10th anniversary this season. The club has been built on the field to compete and has also worked on helping children and their families in the National Capital Area improve their lives through the sport and support of baseball.

Principal owner Marla Lerner Tanenbaum is chairperson for the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation, which began nine years ago. Tanenbaum talked about how she created the Foundation and what she was looking for the organization to support.

"In 2006, when my family became owners, we started looking around at other baseball teams to see what (were) the best practices because we instinctively knew that most baseball organizations have a foundation," Tanenbaum said. "Sometimes those foundations reflect very much the ownership's priorities and their passions, and other times it seems to be more reflective of the city and region the team is located. And we obviously went with the passions and needs of the city of Washington. We are all Washingtonians of course."

Tanenbaum looked around the majors and found some interesting ideas from the Boston Red Sox, who had created the Jimmy Fund, a marriage that dates back to 1953.

"What I did is just start talking to people in the industry," Tanenbaum said. "The people in baseball were very giving and welcoming, and we were a new team, we were all trying to figure out what ends up. I focused on the Red Sox after a while with the Jimmy Fund and, of course, how crazy Boston fans are for everything Red Sox. They just had some really great practices on how they organized their foundation. So I took a few cures from them and talked with some other people and then started talking to people and Washington what was important here."

The signature initiative so far for the Dream Foundation has been the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy located on Ely Place in southeast Washington, D.C. The academy's mission statement: "To use the sports of baseball and softball as vehicles to foster positive character development, academic achievement and improved health among at-risk Washington, D.C., youth." The academy officially opened March 29, 2014. The plans had first been discussed in 2006.

"The baseball academy has just been a phenomenal success so far," Tanenbaum said. "People are very responsive to that. I get told all the time I was there for a game, I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it when I walked out on that field and saw what it was. People hear an academy and they think we threw up a few tents or something. But it was many years in the planning and a lot of great thought was given to that."

The Nationals just completed another successful Gala to help raise money for the Dream Foundation's programs.

"We do look forward to it," Tanenbaum said. "I feel like it's the Macy's (Thanksgiving) Day parade because the day after we have the gala one year, we start planning for next year, how do we improve it. I have an unbelievable staff of two and they do the work of 20."

This year's event was held at the Marriott Marquis in D.C. and manager Matt Williams and his wife Erika were the hosts.

"They love (knowing) our initiatives and loved the baseball academy and all of our granting," Tanenbaum relayed. "Erika is such a dynamo. She's got such a stage presence."

MSNBC's Alex Wagner was also a part of the festivities. Tanenbaum said they had the largest crowd ever for the event.

"The players get into it, especially Gio (Gonzalez) last year was impromptu auctioneer," Tanenbaum said. "Fun things happen. Matt Williams is no slouch either at pushing product."

In addition to the youth baseball academy, the foundation also built the Diabetes Care Complex and Children's National Medical Center.

On the website, the diabetes care complex is described as:

"The Diabetes Care Complex at Children's National Medical Center opened in June, 2013, and offers a multi-disciplinary approach to supporting children with diabetes and their families.

With state-of-the-art treatment rooms and a multi-functional education center, the facility houses classrooms, a media room, a demonstration kitchen, computer kiosks and various other tools to empower families battling diabetes."

Now, Marla says the Foundation is ready to build another cornerstone program.

"We are going to renovate baseball fields in the Washington area," Tanenbaum announced. "Something we have had on our wish list for a long time, but the academy took a lot of our energy and our finances. This is just something we know the need is so important. Listen, if you don't have the field and you don't have the equipment, you can't play the game of baseball. The fields are critical. It's also important to have fields that are well maintained so the kids don't injure themselves up there.

"What we've seen is not that promising in Washington and I think that's what we've been hoping to do. Then, Matt Williams came to town and that is really his passion. And he has done a lot of that work in Arizona. He really wanted to replicate that here. We were all in. We've been wanting to do that in Washington for a long time. That's our project."

Marla also said the fans can get involved in helping raise money for the foundation by possibly winning money themselves with the 50/50 raffle in conjunction with D.C. Lottery.

"Every weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday games at Nats Park we have kiosks and roving sellers to sell 50/50 tickets. Ticket prices are three for $5, 10 for $10 and 30 for $20."

"Fifty percent of the proceeds go to the Dream Foundation and 50 percent goes to a very lucky winner. We've had a lot of great winners so far."

Marla said another great initiative that has interesting fan interaction is a chance to purchase Max Scherzer-signed baseball cards.

"We've got a new one with Max Scherzer and his wife, Erica May-Scherzer. Max wanted to sell signed baseball cards and he wanted to do something for the foundation. So we're starting a new initiative with him, 'Cards for a Cause'. So you can see that on our website, too. We are starting with Max and figuring it out with Max and then next year we'll add some more players to it."

The Dream Foundation is the cornerstone of giving and helping children and their families in the Washington area. For more information on how you can help, click here.