What does a basketball court refurbishment, a reading and learning center and a homeless shelter computer lab have in common?

The Dallas Maverick’s nonprofit arm, the Mavs Foundation, is what ties it all together. Each grant, consisting of about $25,000, will be awarded this year at the Mavs Ball, where six recipient companies will then have the chance to make a whole lot of people’s dreams come true in Dallas.

The event, titled “A Blue Tie Affair,” will be held on March 4 at the OMNI Dallas Hotel. 

“The amount is the same each year, but the Mavs Foundation also sources materials for the basketball courts and R&L centers from sponsors to keep costs low,” said Erin Finegold, Director of Corporate Communications and Events for Dallas Mavericks.

The recipients were chosen, as in years past, through a grant selection cycle where the board collects all of the individual grant applications, reads them, reviews each as a group and selects recipients based on need and impact in the community.

“Each were chosen based off of individual need, how they were planning to spend the money within the organization and the impact it was going to create — by helping children and families in need in DFW,” Finegold said.

Both the Reading and Learning Center and the Basketball Court will be complete by the end of regular basketball season. 

The 2015-16 Grant Recipients were selected from more than 160 applications by the board of directors of the Mavs Foundation. Recipients include Café Momentum, Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance, Focus On Teens, Kids U, Metrocrest Services, Parker’s Park in West, Texas, and Union Gospel Mission of Tarrant County. 

“By helping families in need, especially children, the Mavs Foundation is bettering the future of DFW,” Finegold said. “Whether it is feeding a child that wouldn't have had a meal that day, or combating indifference and hate by sending kids to the Holocaust Museum, The Foundation is helping one child at a time — and hoping to have a larger reach year after year.”

The Dallas Mavericks Foundation is dedicated to using its platform to build a stronger community by empowering youth, women and families who need financial support, advocacy and service.  

Established in the fall of 1996, the Foundation has already granted more than $3.5 million dollars to nonprofit organizations serving women, children and families in need, and created Reading and Learning Centers and basketball courts across the North Texas community.

Next month’s gala, specifically held to raise critical support and awareness for the Foundation and its programs, offers table sponsors and guests the chance to spend the evening with the entire 2015-2016 Dallas Mavericks team, coaches and front office staff.

There is entertainment, too, from emcees and Mavs broadcasters Mark Followill and Dana Larson. The music for the evening will be provided by the Brass-A-Holics, an 8-piece brass funk band from New Orleans, La., famous for their jazzy tunes and funky renditions of today’s pop hits.

Learn more about the Mavs Foundation here.