The St. Louis Rams Foundation focuses the majority of its resources on several Cornerstone Programs, designed to positively impact youth in the areas of education, literacy, health and youth football.
- Community First
Community First allows schools and non-profit youth organizations the opportunity to earn tickets to Rams home games by “putting the community first” and developing and implementing community service projects. The program has generated more than 25,000 hours of community service since its inception in 1998.
- Diversity Awareness Partnership
After helping launch the Diversity Awareness Partnership in 2000, the Rams continue to unite organizations in the effort to reduce bias and discrimination, and promote the value of difference among the people of St. Louis. An example of this collaboration is the Edward Jones’ Give Respect – Get Respect Youth Program that has engaged middle and high school students, teachers and members of today’s workforce in this pursuit of acceptance.
- Emerging Leaders
The objective of the the St. Louis Rams Emerging Leaders Program is to provide St. Louis area high school juniors an opportunity to understand the daily operations of business and community organizations. During the program, students observe a variety of different occupations, receive specialized training, develop leadership skills important to their future professional lives and build relationships with students from diverse high schools.
- Huddle Up
The St. Louis Rams and CHARACTERplus have joined together to help educators integrate character building into classroom curricula. A web site has been developed that provides resources for classroom teachers including lesson plans. Teachers will also have an opportunity to compete in a contest to recognize outstanding lesson plans that integrate character into core academics.
- Rams Reader Team/ Literacy Initiatives
The Rams place a high priority on literacy and partner with area organizations to increase interest in reading, provide free books for underserved communities and train tutors. The Rams also started the Rams Reader Team, a program that targets kids from kindergarten to high school, and encourages them to visit their local library, sign up to be a Rams Reader Team member, and choose a book from the reading list.
- St. Louis Public Schools Rams Fitness Team
The Rams and St. Louis Public Schools have collaborated to create the Rams Fitness Team, a program that includes a flag football curriculum, training sessions with Rams personnel and a component on nutrition and lifetime fitness. The Rams Fitness Team also recognizes the importance of physical education teachers in today’s schools, through the Physical Education Teacher of the Year program.
- Youth Football
The Rams have joined with the NFL to identify opportunities to enhance, promote and recognize positive aspects of football at every level. The team, along with the local chapter of the National Football Foundation, has led the way in creating an Amateur Football Council, designed to support organizations committed to amateur football and to promote youth development, sportsmanship and academic excellence through youth football (St. Louis Rams).
