Local youth at the Boys & Girls Club of the Los Angeles Harbor, the top recipient of this year’s Port of Los Angeles Community Investment Grant Program and one of the oldest Boys & Girls Clubs in California. Photo credit: Boys & Girls Club of the Los Angeles Harbor. Photo courtesy of POLA.
LOS ANGELES — The Port of Los Angeles Oct. 3 awarded $1.23 million in grants to 40 local organizations to support programs, projects and events benefiting the Los Angeles Harbor area communities of Wilmington and San Pedro.
The top five grant awardees by amount are:
Boys & Girls Club of the LA Harbor Wilmington P.O.L.A. Program $ 228,000.00
International Seafarers Center Maritime Salut and other Programs $ 100,000.00
South Bay Center for Counseling Clean Wilmington $ 80,000.00
LA Conservation Corps San Pedro Beautification $ 80,000.00
Pacific Battleship Center Programming, Events and War Memorial $ 77,500.00
A total of 65 organizations applied for Fiscal Year 2024/25 funding from the port’s community investment grant program, which has supported a total of 374 community grants totaling more than $12 million since the program began in 2014.
“These grants represent an important investment in organizations playing an important role in delivering services and programs benefiting our surrounding communities,” said Los Angeles Harbor Commission President Lucille Roybal-Allard. “The Port is proud to support these local efforts that do so much to improve the well-being and quality of life in the harbor area.”
Grants were awarded in two categories: large (over $100,000) and general (under $100,000). Grants are funded through port shipping fees and leasing revenues –– not taxpayer funded.
This year, the two organizations receiving first-year large grants were the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor, which serve 2,600 local youths annually at 20 different area sites, and the International Seafarers Center, a non-profit organization providing and maintaining facilities and services for merchant seamen calling at the San Pedro Bay Port Complex.
Renewable second-year large grants were also made to EXP, an organization focused on next-generation maritime workforce development, and the Los Angeles Maritime Institute, supporting its TopSail experiential education sailing program for at-risk youth.
Final grant awards were reviewed and made by a committee of six individuals: three from the port’s community relations division, one from Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, one from San Pedro Chamber of Commerce and one from Los Angeles Council District 15. Each year’s grant submissions are reviewed and scored on their own merits without regard to prior year awards.
Community Investment Grant for FY 2024-2025:
Also recognized at the Oct. 3 Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commission meeting were the following fiscal year 2024/25 grant awardees:
| Organization | Program/Event | Amount Awarded |
| Avalon Arts & Cultural Alliance | Various Community Events | $ 45,000.00 |
| Boys & Girls Club of the LA Harbor | Wilmington P.O.L.A. Program | $ 228,000.00 |
| Cabrillo Beach Youth Sailing | Sailing Program | $ 25,000.00 |
| Cabrillo Beach Boosters | 74th Annual John Olguin 4th of July Spectacular | $ 35,000.00 |
| CicLAvia | CicLAvia Mini San Pedro | $ 20,000.00 |
| Friends of Banning Museum | Phineas Birthday & Victorian Christmas | $ 10,000.00 |
| Friends of the Cabrillo Aquarium | Events and Community Messaging | $ 40,000.00 |
| Friends of the LA Maritime Museum | Expansion of Lego Shipbuilding Contest | $ 4,389.00 |
| Friends of the Rotary Club of Wilmington | LAFW Welcome Reception & Taste of Wilmington | $ 18,000.00 |
| Gang Alternative Program | GAP & POLA Keeping it Clean | $ 5,000.00 |
| Grand Vision Foundation | Music of the Harbor | $ 18,000.00 |
| Greater LA Boy Scouts of America | Waterfront Sports Center | $ 48,000.00 |
| Harbor Community Development Corp. | Teen Council Leadership, Planning & Exploration | $ 15,000.00 |
| International Bird Rescue | Bird Rescue, Rehabilitation & Crisis Response | $ 20,000.00 |
| International Seafarers Center | Maritime Salut and other Programs | $ 100,000.00 |
| LA Choreographers & Dancers | 18th Annual Festival of the Arts | $ 10,000.00 |
| LA Conservation Corps | San Pedro Beautification | $ 80,000.00 |
| LAFD Historical Society | Ralph J. Scott Fireboat Project and LAFW Open House | $ 15,000.00 |
| Los Angeles Sailing Foundation | Sponsorship of the Cal Maritime Intercollegiate Regatta | $ 20,000.00 |
| Latino Student Business Association- CSUDH | College Night at Banning’s Landing Community Center | $ 10,000.00 |
| Little Italy of Los Angeles Association | Italy Run LA 5K | $ 10,000.00 |
| Marine Mammal Care Center | Changing Tides Fundraiser | $ 20,000.00 |
| Marine Mammal Care Center | Stranding, Entanglement and Special Rescue Vehicle | $ 55,000.00 |
| NAMEPA | Educator’s Guide to Offshore Wind | $ 10,000.00 |
| Pacific Battleship Center | Programming, Events and War Memorial | $ 77,500.00 |
| Pacific Unicomm Corp | 62nd Annual Holiday Afloat Parade | $ 5,500.00 |
| Sail LA/Wilmington Youth Sailing | Wilmington Waterfront Holiday Celebration | $ 2,500.00 |
| San Pedro Art Association | Art Competition | $ 2,500.00 |
| San Pedro City Ballet | SP City Ballet Celebrates the Port of LA | $ 15,000.00 |
| San Pedro Nonprofit Association | 2024/5 Music Fest | $ 17,000.00 |
| San Pedro Nonprofit Association | Memorial Plaque Restoration | $ 35,000.00 |
| San Pedro Waterfront Arts District | Crosswalk Demonstration Project | $ 25,000.00 |
| Shakespeare by the Sea | Performances along the LA Waterfront | $ 8,000.00 |
| Sharefest Community Development Corp | Recycling at the Port | $ 4,500.00 |
| South Bay Center for Counseling | Clean Wilmington | $ 80,000.00 |
| Think Earth Environmental Foundation | Think Watershed Project | $ 15,000.00 |
| Tianguiz Cultural | Movie Nights and other events at Wilmington Promenade | $ 18,000.00 |
| US Merchant Marine/Lane Victory Maritime Center | Exhibit enhancements and community outreach | $ 16,000.00 |
| Wilmington Historical Society | Fleet Week Historical Roadshow | $ 2,450.00 |
| Wilmington YMCA | Annual Dia de los Muertos 1K/5K | $ 15,000.00 |
| TOTAL | $ 1,200,339 |
Details: www.portoflosangeles.org/community/grants
CARSON — The City of Carson will hold "Carson Remembers and Honors: 25th Anniversary 9/11…
The Long Beach Police Department is asking for the public's help locating 37-year-old missing…
The first of three temporary weekend closures to demolish the ramps connecting the Shoemaker Bridge…
The Water Replenishment District needs your creativity to spread the word on the importance of…
LOS ANGELES — LA28 Sept. 10 opened applications for the LA28 L.ocal A.uthentic Program, the…
California counties are on the front lines of the damage brought by the Trump administration's…