Ravens Foundation Funds Library For Poverty Stricken Elementary School

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore Ravens President Dick Cass, Joe Flacco and CEO of Baltimore City Schools, Gregory E. Thornton, announced the opening of a newly renovated library at Charles Carroll Barrister Elementary School in downtown Baltimore.

Mike Schuh reports for WJZ.

Barrister Elementary School is in a neighborhood called "Pigtown," which is under a mile from M&T Bank Stadium.

One-third of Pigtown residents live in poverty, and 95 percent of the elementary school's students receive free or reduced meals.

Flacco and Cass visited the elementary school and spoke in the auditorium on behalf of the Ravens Foundation, which provided the funds for the renovations.

"How much did the team spend and why is it worth the team's investment?" Ravens President, Dick Cass said. "We haven't made it public, but it's a couple hundred thousand dollars."

After the ceremony, Flacco gave out backpacks to all the students.

The parents sitting in the audience also enjoyed watching him encourage the students to keep reading and keep learning.

"I'm a professional athlete," Flacco said at the library's opening ceremony, "and people think all we do is play on the football field. But every day we're reading."

The Ravens Foundation says the newly renovated library was made to reinforce the organization's commitment to supporting education and promoting literacy.