Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — Fundraising efforts for a planned downtown statue marking an historic event in baseball are now at first base.

Supporters of the statue to mark the historic 1946 handshake between baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson and George “Shotgun” Shuba of Youngstown now have a $50,000 grant for the project from the Youngstown Foundation.

The statue would memorialize the first interracial handshake in modern professional baseball,

“This grant is a fast, big and important step toward our goal of raising $400,000 for this project,” said Ernie Brown, a co-chairman of the Robinson-Shuba Commemorative Statue Committee. “We deeply appreciate the leadership and generosity of the Youngstown Foundation.”

The Youngstown Foundation, established in 1918 by a group of prominent industrial leaders with an initial gift of $33,000, has donated more than $100 million over its 101-year history. It is one of the largest grant makers in northeastern Ohio.

Plans call for the statue to be dedicated on April 18, 2021, the 75th anniversary of the handshake. The proposed site for the statue is near the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre.

Jan Strasfeld, executive director of the Youngstown Foundation, said its governing board recognized the importance of the Robinson-Shuba statue.

“This statue recognizes the role ‘one of our own’ played in an important historic moment that helped advance racial equality in American sports and culture,” she said. “There is no city more appropriate than Youngstown, a true community of excellence, for a larger-than-life statue that honors Jackie Robinson’s achievements and George Shuba’s respect for them.”

The Economic Action Group, a downtown development advocate and fiscal agent for the statue project, will be the grant recipient. The statue committee will be approaching other foundations and potential donors as well.

“The Youngstown Foundation grant not only provides an early financial boost but tremendous credibility to our fund-raising efforts,” said Nick Chretien, program manager for the EAG. “We’re appreciative of the Youngstown Foundation’s support and confident that many others will want to support this project because of the important moment it celebrates.”