Beckman Foundation Awards FIRST® California Robotics a $25,000 Orange County Community Support Grant
District-level Sponsorship to Support OC-area Competitions, Provide Resources for New and Existing Teams
IRVINE, Calif. (August 25, 2026) – The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation today announced FIRST® California Robotics as the latest recipient of one of its Orange County Community Support Grants, issuing a $25,000 partnership award for District-level sponsorship. The funding will be used to support two events in the Orange County-area during the upcoming competition season, and may contribute to registration fees, materials and supplies, equipment, and travel for both new and existing teams. Approximately 36-40 high school teams participate throughout Orange County.
Beckman’s local community support grants fund organizations with innovative STEM/STEAM activities, projects, and/or events within the Orange County, California area that align with its aim of “supporting young scientists today for tomorrow’s breakthrough discoveries.” FIRST® is looking to add new teams to its roster this season. Teams are typically comprised of 30-35 students but can continue to grow with interest – sometimes up to 100 students. The organization’s slogan, ‘FIRST® is more than robots’, speaks to the inclusive nature of the program, which offers students a variety of roles, from project builds to marketing. Students learn engineering and entrepreneurship skills, life skills and social emotional development, gain a sense of belonging and family, and have direct access to role models and mentors.
“At FIRST®, we really focus on developing students to be future innovators and leaders. We are thrilled to have the Beckman Foundation as a partner in the life changing work we are doing inspiring and engaging youth in the STEM fields. It is organizations like yours that make the impactful work we do possible!
In district competition, high school teams first register. Then, the teams earn points, and each receive a rank based on the points they earn. The top ranked teams move on to state competition. The next competition season will kick-off in January 2027.
About the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation
Located in Irvine, California, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation supports researchers and nonprofit research institutions in making the next generation of breakthroughs in chemistry and the life sciences. Founded in 1977 by 20th century scientific instrumentation pioneer Dr. Arnold O. Beckman, the Foundation supports United States institutions and young scientists whose creative, high-risk, and interdisciplinary research will lead to innovations and new tools and methods for scientific discovery. For more information, visit beckman-foundation.org.
About FIRST® and FIRST® Robotics Competition
FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a global robotics community that prepares young people for the future. Through life-changing, team-based PreK-12 robotics programs, FIRST gives young people the skills, confidence, and resilience to build a better world. Guided by the FIRST Core Values of Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition®, participants conduct research, raise funds, design, build, program, and compete in annual robotics challenges while developing teamwork, leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.
Founded in 1989, FIRST has reached more than 3.2 million young people in 110+ countries and has a proven impact on STEM learning, interest, and workforce readiness. Participants and alumni gain access to education and career opportunities, exclusive scholarships, and a lifelong global community.
FIRST® Robotics Competition, the organization's flagship high school program, brings together students and professional mentors to design, build, and program industrial-sized robots to compete in a fast-paced, themed game. During the 2025 season, more than 92,500 students on 3,700 teams across 30 countries participated, gaining real-world engineering experience while preparing for college, careers, and leadership in STEM and beyond. The next FIRST Robotics Competition season officially kicks off each January with the annual global Kickoff event, when teams around the world simultaneously receive the new game challenge and begin designing, building, and programming their robots for competition. The 2026 season kicks off on January 10, 2026, continuing one of the most anticipated traditions in youth robotics.
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Press Contact:
Kaerie Ray, Communications Director
(949) 560-4232, [email protected]
