Grants totaling over $510,000 expand geographic footprint of the Mazda Foundation’s work in the United States

IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 26, 2025 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — The Board of Trustees of the Mazda Foundation (USA) Inc., has awarded funding for seven programs this year, reinforcing the organization’s commitment to addressing food insecurity and some of its many root causes, particularly equitable access to education and job opportunities. In total, the Mazda Foundation has awarded over $510,000 to organizations across the United States.

“The grants we’re announcing today reaffirm our commitment to the highly successful partnerships we’ve built over the past five years,” said Tamara Mlynarczyk, manager of public affairs for Mazda North American Operations and president of the Mazda Foundation (USA), Inc. “Many of these partnerships offer valuable opportunities for Mazda employees to volunteer their time and share their creativity and expertise with the next generation – a core value of our company.”

The Mazda Foundation’s partnerships continue to serve increasing numbers of people across several major metropolitan areas throughout the United States. Funding for programs will continue this year in Southern California, and the Huntsville, AL, and Baltimore, MD, areas. New for 2025, the Mazda Foundation and its partners will launch programs around Chicago, New York, and Houston, TX.

This year’s awards will bring STEM education and workforce development programs to underserved young adults in high school and beyond. Additionally, the Mazda Foundation continues its work to bolster food security in Orange County, CA.

Awards include the following:

• Food Security: funding for Second Harvest Food Bank (Irvine, CA), marking the 20^th consecutive year of support.
• Education: funding for a holistic educational and job mentoring program established by College Track L.A. (Los Angeles); continued funding of FUSE Studios’ STEM labs in 9 schools in Southern California, and the launch of 16 additional programs over the next two years in Greater Chicago and Greater Huntsville, AL; funding for high school students to create robotics teams and participate in competitions developed by the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation (Huntsville, AL); and funding for two years of AVID programming in five schools in Brooklyn, N.Y. and Harris County, TX.
• Workforce Development: funding for the fourth year of the culinary training program at Bracken’s Kitchen (Garden Grove, CA); funding for the Full Circle automotive technician training program for formerly incarcerated individuals established by Vehicles for Change (Halethorpe, MD).

About Mazda Foundation (USA), Inc.
As the corporate foundation of Mazda North American Operations (MNAO), the Mazda Foundation has donated more than $16 million to children’s organizations, educational scholarships, food banks, environmental programs, and disaster relief efforts since 1992. To learn more about the Mazda Foundation, please visit www.mazdafoundation.org.

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SOURCE Mazda Foundation (USA), Inc.