In addition to his personal accolades, Mookie Betts has been on two World Series-winning teams and seven Postseason teams.
Since day one, Mookie has contributed to the communities in which he has played, often anointing the project with his legendary number ¡°50¡± to connect his legacy to his community work. Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles, Mookie desired to do more to match the contributions and community work he had been doing in his home state of Tennessee. In 2021, Mookie and his wife Brianna established the 5050 Foundation. The mission was simple: ¡°Break barriers that hold kids back from their potential, particularly those who struggle medically and financially.¡± The four pillars of the foundation represent the values of Mookie: mental/emotional health, nutrition, financial literacy and physical fitness.
In 2021, ¡°50 Feeds LA¡± was launched. Mookie partnered with the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) to feed Angelenos in South LA. Mookie has contributed more than $300,000 which has fed thousands over the past three holiday seasons. In 2023, alongside LADF and the Brotherhood Crusade, Mookie handed out Thanksgiving meals to 1,500 families at Algin Sutton Recreation Center in South Los Angeles. The rec center hosted the LADF¡¯s third annual turkey giveaway as volunteers handed out meals, toys and other supplies via drive-thru.
To introduce the 5050 Foundation to a broader audience, they launched the annual Mookie Betts + Friends Bowling Tournament in 2023. A portion of the proceeds from the 2024 event went toward field improvements at Jackie Robinson¡¯s alma mater, John Muir High School, and included dugout renovations, outfield widescreens and other various projects to boost the quality of the field offerings.
In addition to physical renovations and refurbishments of youth sporting facilities, Mookie and the 5050 Foundation have paid visits to UCLA Children¡¯s Hospital, where they created the ¡°Betts on Us¡± fund, the purpose of which is to help families of pediatric patients in need of financial assistance gain access to adequate health care support. In addition to the hospital partnership, Mookie partnered with Crete Academy in South Los Angeles to help bring more than 700 underserved youth and their families to a Dodgers game last September. Mookie and the 5050 Foundation also hosted a financial literacy workshop this past January for three different local high schools at Dodger Stadium. In these workshops students learned important financial literacy tools from seasoned Bank of America professionals.
The work hasn¡¯t stopped in LA, as Mookie created ¡°Team Mookie¡± in Nashville, Tenn. The elite boys¡¯ basketball and Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team's 16U squad clinched the EYBL Championship this past May.
In addition to his personal community and foundation work off the field, Mookie continues to be a regular part of the Los Angeles Dodgers community programming where he has entertained, mentored and visited with Make-A-Wish program participants, UCLA health patients, and local students and student athletes, and has been a staple of the Dodgers annual ¡°Dodgers Love LA Community Tour.¡± Mookie participates in the Dodgers¡¯ annual Juneteenth activations and supported the teams¡¯ efforts to grow their African American fan base through his engagement in the annual Black Heritage Night programming as well as Jackie Robinson Day activations in support of MLB initiatives in 2024.