The Chicago Sports Alliance, a collaboration between the Chicago Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls, Cubs and White Sox along with the support of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, today announced it will commit $300,000 to the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation and the Robb School Memorial Fund.
Now in its fifth year, the Alliance was created to address the issue of increasing gun violence across the city of Chicago, dedicated to lending its collective influence and resources to support data-driven, proven solutions impacting the root cause of gun violence.
In a statement, the Alliance said, "Twenty-one smiles in Uvalde, Texas, lost. Just days before that, 10 smiles in Buffalo, lost. And unfortunately, across our own city, too many smiles lost to this same issue. It is our responsibility to those innocent lives lost to do more. We are committed to making a difference through the resources in our power to solving this gun violence epidemic. Lives depend on it. This is not a game."
Each organization's $50,000 commitment benefits the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, a national nonprofit whose mission is to end school shootings and create cultural change that prevents violence and other harmful acts that hurt children, as well as the official fund at First State Bank of Uvalde for the families affected by the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022.
Fans can learn more and donate directly to Sandy Hook Promise Foundation by visiting SandyHookPromise.org.
In addition, donations can be made directly to the Robb School Memorial Fund with First State Bank of Uvalde by check through the mail (payable to the "Robb School Memorial Fund") or through Zelle to robbschoolmemorialfund@gmail.com.
Locally, the Alliance has invested $5 million in grants toward innovative solutions informed by the research and analysis of the University of Chicago Crime Lab. An additional $1.5 million in matching grants from the McCormick Foundation has also been provided since 2019, for a total of $6.5 million in funding. Grants have supported Choose to Change, Little Village Prevention and Intervention Initiative, READI Chicago, the University of Chicago Crime Lab and analyst training by the Crime Lab for the Chicago Police Department's Strategic Decision Support Centers.