9th ANNUAL RED SOX FOUNDATION IMPACT AWARDS NOW OPEN FOR FAN VOTING

May 2, 2023

Red Sox Foundation and Ruderman Family Foundation
to Deliver $90,000 in Grant Funding to Mental Health Nonprofits in June  

BOSTON, MA – The Red Sox Foundation today announced finalists for the 9th Annual IMPACT Awards presented by the Ruderman Family Foundation. Five nonprofit organizations from each state in New England, dedicated to raising awareness and improving mental health outcomes have been nominated to receive grants, with more than half of this year’s nominees being first-time finalists. Red Sox fans across New England can now vote for their favorite local non-profits to decide which organizations will be awarded grants.  

The voting period is open through Wednesday, May 31, 2023. Voting will help determine a first, second, and third place winner in each of the six states. First place winners will receive a $10,000 award and check presentation during a pregame ceremony at Fenway Park on June 14, tickets to a game, and recognition on the team and Foundation websites.  Charities with the second- and third-most votes will receive grants of $3,000 and $2,000 respectively, along with additional benefits. Fans can vote for their favorite non-profit by visiting redsox.com/IMPACT.  

Later this spring, the Red Sox Foundation and Ruderman Family Foundation will reinforce their pledged support to combatting the stigma surrounding mental health in sports with a panel discussion that will include officials from the Red Sox organization and the Ruderman Foundation, as well as attendees from finalist organizations. More details on the panel will be announced in the coming weeks.  

“If the experiences of recent years have taught us anything about mental health, it is that the rising challenges surrounding this issue are not going away anytime soon,” says Jay Ruderman, President of the Ruderman Family Foundation. “Accordingly, we are honored to once again partner with the Red Sox Foundation in embracing the crucial responsibility to raise awareness and support for the organizations across the region that are tirelessly committed to ensuring that New Englanders receive the services and care they need. On a collective level, we must all continue to do our part to end the stigma around mental health.” 

“We are honored to once again partner with the Ruderman Family Foundation on several mental health initiatives this year,” said Red Sox Foundation Executive Director Bekah Salwasser. “We see how challenging the current mental health epidemic is, which is why it’s critical to support so many New England nonprofits making a difference in this space through the IMPACT Awards. We are equally excited to convene for a mental health panel discussion this year and to unveil our new mental health PSA with our Manager, Alex Cora.” 

The Red Sox Foundation and Ruderman Family Foundation have also released a public service announcement in partnership with Red Sox Manager Alex Cora to further drive awareness around the need to end the stigma associated with mental health. Cora’s full PSA can be viewed here: https://www.redsoxfoundation.org/community/alex-coras-mental-health-psa/  

Finalists for each state are below: 

*Indicates first time finalist for IMPACT Awards 

About Ruderman Family Foundation 

The Ruderman Family Foundation is an internationally recognized organization that works to end the stigma associated with mental health. The Foundation does this by identifying gaps in mental health resources and programs within the high school and higher education communities as well as by organizing other local and national programming and initiatives that raise greater awareness around the stigma.  

The Ruderman Family Foundation believes that inclusion and understanding of all people is essential to a fair and flourishing community and imposes these values within its leadership and funding. For more information, please visit www.rudermanfoundation.org.  

–RED SOX–