ST. LOUIS -- Citing that he wanted to "give something back to the community," St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols and wife Deidre announced the formation of The Pujols Family Foundation on Thursday at the Cardinals Club inside Busch Stadium.

"This is something I wanted to do and it's in our hearts," Albert Pujols said. "Hopefully, it goes good and we can keep going until I'm done with this game. Hopefully, we'll keep doing it forever."

The goal of the charitable foundation is "to live and share our commitment to faith, family and others," according to the organization's mission statement. The Foundation pledges to adopt at least three charities annually that reflects that commitment.

"We're picking three charities but hopefully next year it will be four," said Albert Pujols, who also announced that wife Deidre is expecting the couple's third child in November. "Our thing is to get this foundation and take it to the next level. ... We're starting this year with three or four [charities] and hopefully in five years from now we're supporting 15 or 20 other organizations out there. That's our goal, our main goal right now."

One of the three charities selected by the Pujols family for 2005 is the Down Syndrome Association of St. Louis, a group close to the family's hearts because Albert and Deidre's 7-year-old daughter, Isabella, has Down syndrome.

"Our purpose is for those recipients not to just receive money at the end of the year but an opportunity for the awareness of whatever it is we are supporting," Deidre Pujols said. "We have a 7-year-old who has Down syndrome, and because that's where our heart is this year we are supporting the Down Syndrome Association of St. Louis and it's not just to give them a check at the end of the year, it's to help the public be aware of what Down syndrome is."

The Foundation has also chosen to support the "Orfanato Ninos De Christo" orphanage in Santo Domingo in 2005.

"I had an opportunity to visit, find out their needs, see first-hand what it was like in this place," Deidre Pujols said. "We're also going to put finances there and tell people about this place. The reason we want to help outside of the United States is because obviously Albert is from the Dominican Republic. These are his people and he cares about them as much as anybody here locally in St. Louis. It's important we share his heart and our family's heart with the Dominican people."

Both Albert Pujols and his wife stressed on Thursday that The Pujols Family Foundation will provide the family with an opportunity to share what is most important in their lives.

"Probably the most important thing that the whole foundation is set up to do is to give us an outlet to share the most important thing in our life, and that is our faith," Deidre Pujols said. "We're not a ministry, we are a foundation, but we want to give the public an opportunity to hear and, if they are willing, to receive what we believe and our faith and our Christianity."

Albert Pujols said: "The beauty of this thing is that we're going to share our faith. That's our main goal. That we can get to those people and not just write a check for whatever they need, but at the same time share with them what the Lord has done in our lives."

The organization's first fund-raising event will be the third annual Albert Pujols Celebrity Golf Classic, scheduled for June 9 at the Missouri Bluffs Golf Club in St. Charles, Mo. For more information on the event, which raised more than $100,000 last year, call Lisa Young at 314-749-0152.

For more information on The Pujols Family Foundation visit www.pujolsfamilyfoundation.org.