In partnership with Brotherhood Crusade, Mookie Betts’ 50/50 Foundation and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation hosted its fourth consecutive Thanksgiving drive through for Los Angeles residents in need on Thursday.
The grab-and-go was at Algin Sutton Recreation Center in south Los Angeles. This park is the home to Dodgers Dreamfields No. 1 and No. 50. The car line was two miles long and some residents had been out there since 5 a.m.
Dodgers superstar outfielder Mookie Betts spoke on what Thanksgiving means to him.
“It means family, you know, spending time with the family and being grateful for any time you get on Earth, especially with the fam, and it’s a lot of fun times playing games, cooking, and whatnot,” Betts said. “When I think of Thanksgiving with the family it makes me smile.”
The 50/50 Foundation was created by Betts and his wife Brianna Hammonds in February 2023. Their mission statement states “Every kid can hit a home run in life. But first they need the chance to step up to the plate…We’re forging a future where every kid knocks it out of the park.”
Betts, Hammonds and Betts’ mother Diana Benedict distributed free resources to the community, including food baskets, holiday toys, gift cards and for a lucky few, laptops. Companies and organizations in attendance to support included Chick-Fil-A, SoCal Gas, Marqueece, the L.A. Department of Water and Power and the City of L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks.
President and CEO of Brotherhood Crusade Charisse Bremond Weaver also spoke at the event.
“We put this on because we understand gratitude,” Weaver said. “We understand that during this difficult time of food insecurities, we all have to do our part to serve our community and help families who are in need. It’s about family, and we know the holidays are about family but more importantly about gratitude.”
The Brotherhood Crusade is a 50-year-old grassroots organization with a mission to improve quality of life and meet the needs of “low-income, underserved, under-represented and disenfranchised individuals.”
Together with the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, the 50/50 Foundation provided $100,000 to Brotherhood Crusade to support its food insecurity efforts this year.
Weaver said Thanksgiving is the time of year to be grateful for everything in life.
“Thanksgiving is a time of year of reflection,” he said. “It’s a time to just take a pause and be thankful. And if you have great friends, if you have a great family, if you have a great job, there’s so much to be grateful for. For the little things.”
“It’s not always about financial wealth, it’s about the circle and the people in your lives.”