Orioles outfileder Adam Jones and his wife Audie partnered up with the Orioles Charitable Foundation for the 4th year to donate $75,000 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore.
$65,000 of the donation will go to the renovation of the O'Donnell Heights Club Gymnasium, and $10,000 will go to fund the Youth of the Year Scholarship Awards.
Jones was in a Boys and Girls Club himself when he was a kid, and he said he understands how important focusing on education is.
"So I didn't get to where I'm at just by going with the flow," Jones said. "I educated myself on the process that I'm in, so I think that if you put your head down and do the due diligence, do the hard work, then the sky's the limit for anybody."
The Youth of the Year Scholarship competition took place in front of the Joneses and a panel of judges. Each of the finalists will receive $1000 scholarship, and the winner will receive an additional $5,000.
Jones said helping out the Boys and Girls Clubs over the years has been really rewarding.
"I've been able to see a lot of change in just the kids' attitudes, more kids' presence, positivity, just looking at these kids, looking at their eyes and seeing that they actually see that someone's caring about them as opposed to a rundown place that no one cares about. They're seeing that there's potential here and they have an opportunity to do something special."
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