On Monday evening, it was reported by Yahoo Sports that an enormous and extremely generous $6.5 million gift had been presented to the Jackie Robinson Foundation during the foundation’s annual awards dinner in New York City.

The Jackie Robinson Foundation was founded in 1973 by Rachel Robinson, the widow of the Hall of Famer who broke baseball’s color barrier, to support minority education and leadership development, received the gift from the Strada Education Network and is the largest donation in the foundation’s 44-year history.

According to Yahoo Sports’ Liz Roscher, that gift brings the total amount raised specifically for the construction of The Jackie Robinson Museum to $24 million and allows for groundbreaking and construction of the long-overdue museum to begin this spring. The JRF has an overall goal of $42 million, which would allow the start of an endowment for museum operating costs. Other donors include the New York Mets, who have a rotunda dedicated to Jackie Robinson at Citi Field, the New York Yankees, the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Major League Baseball.

Jackie and Rachel Robinson
(AP photo)

In addition to the museum, the generous gift from the Strada Education Network will allow the Jackie Robinson Foundation to significantly expand its JRF Scholars program, which currently has 240 students but will now be able to increase that to 270.students. The JRF Scholars program provides a four-year college grant to help highly motivated students who have demonstrated financial need. It also follows its “42 Strategies for Success Curriculum,” which gives students the hands-on help and tools they need to succeed.

The Foundation provides mentoring, internships, online and regional programming, and leadership conferences. The students also have the opportunity to intern internationally through the Rachel Robinson International Fellowship, and could receive financial help for graduate training through the Extra Innings Fellowship. As part of the program JRF Scholars are required to take part in community service throughout their time in the program.

The museum is still very much in the concept stage since construction has not yet begun. However, JRF and city officials have decided that the museum will be located in Lower Manhattan several blocks from the Freedom Tower and the 9/11 memorial. Renderings of the design of the museum can be found on the JRF website, although modifications will undoubtedly occur as construction gets underway. That said, the mission statement for the Jackie Robinson Museum is already in stone:

The Jackie Robinson Museum, in memorializing the athletic and social achievements of Jackie Robinson, will be a venue that recounts a historic moment in sports history and promotes dialogue and a good will approach to our nation’s social challenges, such as those confronted by Robinson during his heroic life.

(Click on image to view video)

“Between the museum and the expansion of the JRF Scholars program, the Strada Education Network’s gift will do a lot of good,” writes Roscher. “It allows the Jackie Robinson Foundation to do even more work that pays tribute to Jackie Robinson’s indomitable spirit and immeasurable contribution to both baseball and the world.”

What else can be said except for an overwhelming and heartfelt ‘Thank You’ to the Strada Education Network.

Thank you indeed.