The spirit of giving is at an all-time high as the holiday season is here, and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) and the Brotherhood Crusade partnered once again for their annual Thanksgiving grab-and-go drive-thru to support families in need.
“Today was amazing because it showed the real definition of community. It’s all these partners coming together in South Los Angeles to show up for families at a time they need them most,” Nichol Whiteman, CEO of LADF, said about the food drive. “The holiday season can be a real struggle, and this year has been a roller coaster for a lot of people. All the organizations here today really wanted to show how special this community is and how much they mean to us.”
Founded in 1995, the official charity of the Los Angeles Dodgers was formed by then-Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley.
In 2012, a group of investors, led by Mark Walter, purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers. Walter arrived with ambitions that were bigger than baseball; he wanted the team’s charity to grow—to reach all of Los Angeles—and become an example to other sports teams worldwide.
The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) addresses the most pressing issues facing Los Angeles, with a mission to enhance education, healthcare, homelessness statistics, and social justice for all Angelenos. Reimagined in 2013, LADF has since raised over $204 million. Under its new strategic plan, “Lasting Impact for Los Angeles,” LADF is amplifying best practices, scaling solutions, growing its capacity, and refining its work with investments exceeding $74 million in its programs and grants to local organizations.
To date, LADF has positively impacted over 11 million youth. LADF is the proud recipient of ESPN’s Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year, the Robert Wood Johnson Sports Award, Beyond Sport’s Sport for Reduced Racial Inequalities Collective Impact Award, and the Aspen Institute Project Play Champion.
This marks the fifth year of this food drive with Brotherhood Crusade, with support from other organizations like SoCal Gas, UCLA Health, Councilmember Marquis Dawson Harris, and many more.
“This event can only continue to happen because everybody is like-minded towards achieving the goal of giving back and supporting the community,” Charisse Bremond Weaver, president of Brotherhood Crusade, said about the partnership and event. “All the organizations here today lead with such care, love, and understanding in giving back to South Los Angeles, and working with LADF the last five years has been such a blessing for the community and families.”
The Thanksgiving grab-and-go drive-thru builds on a long-standing partnership among LADF, the 5050 Foundation, and Brotherhood Crusade, rooted in a shared commitment to addressing the unmet needs of under-resourced families, including food insecurity. Since 2020, LADF and the 5050 Foundation have contributed more than $717,000 to support Brotherhood Crusade’s work and advance community-focused initiatives.
“My late father, Walter Bremond, set the standard high when he founded the Brotherhood Crusade 57 years ago, and once I took over from Mr. Bakewell 20 years ago, I continued to recognize and understand the expectation set by my predecessors, Bremond-Weaver said. “The consistency of this organization and the understanding of service and taking care of others are the reasons why we are still achieving great things for our community and will continue to show up and support them.”
The Brotherhood Crusade offers several programs that support the community and youth, serving over 3,000 youth members and approximately 25,000 community members annually. To learn more, donate, or volunteer, visit Brotherhoodcrusade.org.
