Lake Forest Nonprofit Receives Grant From '84 Olympics Fund

The foundation that manages Southern California's share of the surplus from the Los Angeles Games announced Wednesday it awarded nearly $500,000 this quarter to 22 Southland programs.

The grants will fund programs in sports including soccer, track and field, swimming, golf, flag football, equestrianism, basketball, volleyball, cross country, boxing, baseball and gymnastics involving more than 18,000 children, according to Anita L. DeFrantz, president of the LA84 Foundation.

Among the recipients are US Too Gymnastics in Lake Forest. Others that cater to special needs participants are Carousel Ranch in Santa Clarita, Hillsides in Pasadena, Riding Emphasizing Individual Needs and Strengths in San Diego, and TERI, Inc. in Oceanside.

Several organizations received funds to assist with facility maintenance, a key need for many sports organizations that are forced to operate with aging facilities under constrained budgets.

The Salesian Boys and Girls Club in Boyle Heights received an $85,000 grant that will primarily be directed towards renovating  the pool used by the organization's aquatics program.

"Our latest grant recipients are committed to ensuring that all students are given the opportunity and the resources to participate in sports, regardless of their financial situation," DeFrantz said.

"Providing grants to well-run programs is the heart and soul of what this organization does, and we're proud to support their work in reaching our kids through sports."

Since its inception in 1985, the LA84 Foundation has distributed more than $214 million, including $3.6 million this year, to support programs that have reached more than 3 million youth. This amount is more than double its original endowment of $93 million, which was derived from the surplus funds for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.   

Us Too Gymnastics is located at 25 Spectrum Pointe.

—Martin Henderson contributed to this report