Viewfinder: Jason Heyward Guides Youth at Baseball Clinic

L.E.A.D. (Launch. Expose. Advise. Direct.), a local nonprofit designed to provide inner-city kids with a path to higher education through baseball, held its Fifth Annual Celebrity Clinic Saturday at Turner Field. Jason Heyward, Dexter Fowler, and Rickie Weeks were among the major league baseball players who shared their knowledge of baseball and life with the young athletes.

In addition to the clinic, L.E.A.D. held its annual Dinner with Champions Sunday night during which the organization honored the student athletes, pro player ambassadors and community partners. The dinner at Turner Field’s 755 Club also celebrated L.E.A.D.’s 100 percent success rate – 100 percent of L.E.A.D. graduates have enrolled in college and 89 percent have received baseball scholarships. During the celebration, Atlanta City Councilman Michael Julian Bond presented a City of Atlanta proclamation which designated Sunday, Nov. 20 L.E.A.D. Day and CJ Stewart Day in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia’s Own Credit Union also presented L.E.A.D. with a $28,000 check meant to support the organization’s efforts to Launch.Expose.Advise.Direct. their middle school and high school student athletes.