Red Sox Integration Timeline The Yawkey Foundation carries on the legacy of giving of Tom and Jean Yawkey by providing charitable grants to eligible nonprofit organizations in Eastern Massachusetts and Georgetown County, South Carolina, the two communities that the Yawkeys called home. The Foundation focuses on six areas of giving, aligned to the causes that were so important to the Yawkeys during their lifetimes: health care, youth and amateur athletics, education, arts and culture, human services, and conservation and wildlife.
As planned and outlined in Tom Yawkey’s will, the Yawkey Foundation was officially established a year after his death in 1977. As part of his bequest, the 20,000 acres of coastal land in Georgetown County, South Carolina, that Tom owned was gifted to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Tom’s will stipulated that the care for the land, now called the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center, would be funded by the Yawkey Foundation in perpetuity. From this final act of generosity began a new chapter of giving that continues more than four decades later.
Areas of Giving
Tom and Jean gave generously to the communities they lived in and the causes they cared about. As owners of the Boston Red Sox, they split their time between Boston and the warmer climate of South Carolina, where Tom spent his winters during his childhood. In these two communities and beyond, the couple was dedicated to helping those in need obtain access to basic services for healthy and fulfilling lives and ensuring equitable access to opportunities was available to all. The Yawkey’s approach to giving back is stewarded and perpetuated by the commitment of the Yawkey Foundation Trustees to this day.
Health Care
The Yawkey Foundation is committed to supporting nonprofit organizations and medical institutions that provide equitable access to high-quality health care, including transformational construction and renovation projects to help leading medical institutions to improve their ability to care for people. The Foundation continues the Yawkeys’ personal connections to organizations such as the Tidelands Health/Georgetown Memorial Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, partnerships that go back to the 1940s and 1950s, respectively.
Youth and Amateur Athletics
The Yawkey Foundation honors the Yawkeys’ commitment to supporting youth recreation programs, a tradition that began during their tenure of ownership of the Boston Red Sox. From providing equipment to local teams and purchasing lights for a community ballpark to hosting hundreds of kids at Fenway Park every year, the Yawkeys sought to foster a love of sports among youth and, more importantly, help provide access to sports.
The Yawkey Foundation continues this tradition by supporting organizations such as the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, The BASE, Youth Enrichment Services (YES), and Special Olympics Massachusetts, as well as youth and amateur baseball leagues and summer camp and recreation programs for underserved youth.
Education
The Yawkey Foundation perpetuates the Yawkeys’ commitment to providing educational opportunities for underserved young people through scholarship and experiential internship programs that provide a pathway to academic and economic mobility success. The Yawkeys believed in the power and importance of education and its ability to change lives. They supported schools and students in the communities they lived in, and the Yawkey Foundation continues this tradition through its own Yawkey Scholars Program, which provides need-based scholarships and support to first-generation college students. The Foundation also funds Yawkey Nonprofit Internship Programs at several universities.
Arts and Culture
Renovating Fenway Park and working with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum were among the Yawkeys’ early contributions to arts and culture. The Yawkey Foundation embraces Tom and Jean’s spirit of preserving cultural institutions through its partnerships with organizations such as the International African American Museum, New England Aquarium, Museum of Science, Boston Children’s Museum, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Human Services
Helping those in need came naturally to Tom and Jean Yawkey. They supported efforts to ensure that basic needs, such as shelter and food, were available to the most vulnerable members of their communities. They also supported employees and friends struggling with medical bills or housing costs. Inspired by the Yawkeys’ great legacies of giving in this area, the Yawkey Foundation continues to support organizations that provide critical resources for food and shelter and support programs for at-risk youth and disadvantaged adults experiencing barriers to self-sufficiency. Long-term partnerships include Pine Street Inn, Father Bill’s & MainSpring, St. Francis House, and Friendship Place.
Conservation and Wildlife
Tom Yawkey’s great legacy in conservation and wildlife management lives on through the work of the Yawkey Foundation and the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center. Managed in partnership with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center functions primarily as a reserve and field research lab with ongoing research partnerships with Clemson University, the University of South Carolina, and a number of other wildlife research and conservation organizations. In addition, the Center serves as a historical resource partner connected to the Yawkey Foundation’s relationship with the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, and in particular, the museum’s Gullah Geechee exhibition gallery.
In the Boston area, the Foundation has partnered with organizations such as Zoo New England and Blue Hill Observatory & Science Center to support education and access to programs for young people.