The Los Angeles Dodgers partnered with the Catching Hope Foundation, created by Will and Cara Smith, to host the third annual Catching Hope Community Clinic at Dodger Stadium for local elementary students.
This year’s event welcomed 130 students from Marquez Charter Elementary School for an all-inclusive day featuring rotating stations with STEM-based activities, arts and crafts, agility courses and Quick Ball. Will Smith was on hand and so too were Dodgers teammates Kyle Hurt, Blake Treinen, Will Klein, Dalton Rushing and Paul Gervase.
The Dodgers Training Academy and Playworks assisted with some of the on-field activities during the Community Clinic as well. STEM activations were provided by Discovery Cube for the second year in a row.
Marquez Charter Elementary School was destroyed in the January 2025 Palisades wildfire, resulting in hundreds of students, teachers and staff being displaced. The school did reopen last fall, but students and staff are in temporary structures.
“Went out there a few weeks ago, saw the campus and met all these kids, and was able to invite them to a clinic and game,” Will Smith said. “We’re just having fun. We have cool activities, we have a cool STEM activity talking about the dynamics of the baseball and physics behind it. It’s just all about science, health, being outside and having fun.”
The students also had an opportunity to take a photo with the 2025 World Series trophy, and they received a gift bag with special items.
Catching Hope Foundation
The Catching Hope Foundation was established in 2021 and works to help underprivileged youth with critical skills needed for leadership, self-advocacy and self-sufficiency. With the goal to help students develop the tools needed to achieve success through partnerships with various organizations in the Los Angeles and Louisville communities, the foundation strive to provide resources and create opportunities, starting with those who need it most.
“We started this foundation truly to give kids opportunities like this and present tools for them to use in their learning,” Cara Smith said. “Not a lot of kids get the opportunities that we feel they should, so we wanted to go into schools and provide them with what they need.”
Among other initiatives, the Catching Hope Foundation has also hosted reading events and donated equipment to youth.
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