Minor League Baseball's Triple-A Memphis Redbirds franchise has donated thousands of dollars to inner-city charities while helping to breathe new life into a once-crumbling strip of downtown Memphis, the Associated Press reports.

AutoZone Park — the team's $80 million, 14,200-seat stadium — is owned by the Memphis Redbirds Baseball Foundation, which is run by a volunteer board of twenty Memphis citizens. The foundation raised $72 million in private financing to build the stadium, which is now a major part of rebuilding efforts for downtown Memphis. The foundation awards more than $600,000 a year for youth baseball and softball programs through the city schools and summer leagues. When stadium construction bonds are paid off in about fifteen years, it expects to have more than $7 million available annually for community programs, and hopes to expand its grantmaking beyond youth sports.

"We're the only not-for-profit charitable organization that owns and runs a pro franchise," said Redbirds general manager Dave Chase. Many minor league baseball teams are associated with not-for-profit groups, he added, but they don't have charity status.