IMMOKALEE, FL – April 25, 2025 – RCMA is proud to announce it has been selected as a recipient of the Tampa Bay Rays’ prestigious Jackie Robinson Grant. One of only five organizations honored this year, RCMA will receive a $20,000 grant from the Rays Baseball Foundation and Rowdies Soccer Fund in recognition of its commitment to embodying the nine core values of Jackie Robinson: courage, determination, teamwork, persistence, integrity, citizenship, justice, commitment, and excellence.
The Jackie Robinson Grant was established by the Rays in 2020 to celebrate organizations that reflect the trailblazing legacy of the late baseball icon. The announcement coincides with the 78th anniversary of Robinson breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier on April 15, 1947, when he took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
“We are deeply honored to receive the Jackie Robinson Grant from the Tampa Bay Rays,” said Isabel Garcia, Executive Director of RCMA. “Jackie Robinson’s values are at the heart of everything we do—his legacy reminds us that real change begins with courage and is sustained through community. This grant is a powerful affirmation of our work and will help bring new educational opportunities to hundreds of children in Mulberry.”
RCMA will apply the grant funds toward the continued development of the new Mulberry Community Academy, a K–8 charter school that is soon to break ground and will serve children of low-income and agricultural working families in Polk County. The school expands upon RCMA’s longstanding mission to provide high-quality educational opportunities and support services to Florida’s most vulnerable children and families.
The Mulberry Community Academy, which currently houses K–2 students in temporary classrooms, will ultimately grow to serve 360 students once the full campus is complete.
RCMA is Florida’s largest nonprofit provider of early childhood education and a recognized charter school operator, serving more than 4,600 children annually through its 53 child development centers and three community academies.
For more information about RCMA and the Mulberry Community Academy, please contact Joseph Goldbach at Joseph.Goldbach@rcma.org or 239-658-3560 x1059.
