Dodger Fan Turns Silly Idea Into Massive Annual Charitable Effort
Six years ago, a young Dodgers fan named Makenna Martin had a silly question for her circle of friends on social media. Who is the hottest Dodger on the team? After admittedly not much thought the first ever “Hottest Dodger Bracket” was born on September 29, 2018.
Now all these years later, it’s turned into a small charity juggernaut.
First, here’s a look at this year’s bracket. More details about the raffle and charitable effort can be found on Martin’s LinkTree here.
Over the first few years, it was all for fun. As Martin told DodgersNation.com in 2021, “The first year that we did the bracket it was just supposed to be a fun inside joke with my little corner of friends on Dodgers’ Twitter.” In 2021, Martin added a charitable angle to the wildly popular “bracketszn” on Twitter.
Partnering with the Peace Over Violence organization in the wake of the domestic violence news involving former Dodger pitcher Trevor Bauer, the raffle fundraiser portion of the annual bracket raised more than $5,000 in its first year. In 2022, that number grew to $8,600 as more fans and supporters got behind the campaign.
This year’s campaign is shaping up to be the biggest yet. In roughly 48 hours, Martin’s fundraiser had more than $5,500 in contributions from 130 donors including Dodgers play by play broadcaster Steven Nelson who spoke about the bracket on Friday night’s broadcast in San Francisco.
Fans and supporters are welcome to contribute to the cause and donate any amount they wish. However, to enter the raffle to win any number of great prizes (all of which were kindly donated by friends and fans), contributors will need to donate at least $10 to Peace Over Violence and fill out a short Google form to choose what prize they’d like to win.
Peace Over Violence is dedicated to mitigating violence and providing resources for victims. Even if you are unable to donate, fans are still encouraged to download and fill out the bracket and post online to raise awareness of the charity. Much more information can be found below.
Finally, here’s my official chicken scratch bracket for 2023.
