Bisciotti said the reason why he wanted to make such a commitment is because he's heard numerous times from his players that if it wasn't for an after-school program like the Boys & Girls Club, they wouldn't have made it.
The Ravens have several current examples of that. Kyle Hamilton went to the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Atlanta. Ronnie Stanley went to the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada. John Jenkins went to the Boys & Girls Club of Meriden in Connecticut. They all have memories of playing billiards, basketball, ping pong, and video games. Jenkins still remembers that he had to get his homework done before he could get on the court.
Basically, it was a safe place where a kid could be a kid and grow.
The Ravens are Jenkins' seventh NFL team, and he said it's "breathtaking" to see the commitment Bisciotti and the team have made to this scale of a project.
"To see an organization like this and the standard that they stand on and how they pour into the community, you don't see that too often," Jenkins said. "It makes everybody else want to dive in."
Community leaders across Baltimore and partners in the project poured into the new facility Monday afternoon for their first tour. But the first ones through those blue doors were the kids.
Smith had a dream. Bisciotti had a dream. Ravens players had dreams. This investment will help youth and families in West Baltimore realize their dreams, too.
"You deserve this," Bisciotti said, with kids watching from the first few rows. "And we're not going to stop here. We're taking applications for the next one and the next one and the next one."