Rays in the Community

A look at the impact in our community for 2019 and beyond

The Tampa Bay Rays are committed to being a strong community partner and energizing our community through the magic of Rays baseball.

The Rays Baseball Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization and the official charity of the Rays, is dedicated to improving the lives of those in need within our community, focusing primarily on education, youth development, wellness and social responsibility. Key contributors to the foundation include Rays owners, players, corporate partners, fans and employees.

RAYS BASEBALL FOUNDATION PROGRAMS

HOME RUN CLUB

In 2010, James and Ryane Shields, along with the Rays, donated a suite to begin a special club for foster kids called the Big Game James Club. In 2013, the Big Game James Club became the Home Run Club. Even though founders James and Ryane Shields are no longer members of the Rays organization, their legacy of advocating for children in foster care lives on. The club continues to offer a sense of stability and belonging to hundreds of foster children and adoptive families throughout Tampa Bay. Each season, with the help of Eckerd, Family Resources, Guardian ad Litem, the Heart Gallery, Ready for Life and Youth Alternatives, over 100 foster children have become club members and attended a series of home games in the suite. When the suite isn’t being used for club kids, Eckerd and the Heart Gallery use it for special adoption events. Furthering the organization’s support for foster children and families, the ballpark also plays host to a permanent Heart Gallery exhibit, displaying professional portraits and personal biographies of children waiting to be adopted. The Home Run Club and Heart Gallery events hosted by the Rays have resulted in numerous adoptions for local foster children.

RAYS JERSEY PROGRAM

Since 2014, the Rays Jersey Program, presented by Suncoast Credit Union and the Rays, has outfitted more than 50,000 Tampa Bay area tee-ball players and coaches with Fanatics jerseys and caps. The program covers more than 80 different leagues in nine area counties and has saved the leagues more than $1 million dollars in equipment costs. As a result of these savings, officials from some of the participating leagues have noted that they now have the ability to pass these savings along to participant families. They have also been able to repair their scoreboards, provide upgrades to dugouts, add fencing for fields, purchase additional equipment and grounds crew supplies and repair concession stands and other areas of their facilities. As part of the overall program, the Rays host instructional clinics for their players and coaches in partnership with the Positive Coaching Alliance. PCA provides tips to coaches and parents on how to provide a positive, character-building youth sports experience to their teams.

READING WITH THE RAYS

Since 2006, the Rays Baseball Foundation has teamed up with Suncoast Credit Union for the summer reading program Reading with the Rays — Read Your Way to the Ballpark. Reading with the Rays encourages kids to avoid summer reading loss by participating in a fun and interactive reading program over the summer months. More than 300,000 Tampa Bay area students from nine surrounding counties have participated since its inception. Participating libraries track their progress and award prizes for reaching certain goals, including free tickets to a Rays game. The program is made possible through a partnership with Suncoast Credit Union, Tampa Bay Times Newspaper in Education, the Rays and public library systems in Charlotte, Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota counties.

SOUTH ST. PETERSBURG NEIGHBORHOOD INITIATIVE

The Rays launched the South St. Petersburg Neighborhood Initiative in response to the tragic 2009 shooting death of 8-year old Paris Whitehead in South St. Petersburg, an underserved community that borders Tropicana Field. In keeping with the Rays mission, this program has focused on youth and education, benefiting the following organizations:

Education

· Academy Prep Center of St. Petersburg

· Campbell Park Elementary

– Field Days

– Great American Teach In

– Mentoring

– Rays Room

Support of Youth Recreation

· Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast

· Burg Baseball

· Child’s Park YMCA

· Field Renovations

TEAM SMILE

Since 2018, the Rays have partnered with Team Smile, an advocacy group that partners dental professionals with professional athletic organizations to provide life-changing dental care to underserved children in their communities. In the past 2 years, the Rays have hosted more than 400 children from the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast and local foster care groups for a free dental day at Tropicana Field. The value of care provided totals almost $170,000 in dental care and education. Through this experience, the children received free oral health education, screening and treatment, and were taught that the mouth and body are linked to overall health. The children received dental work completely free of charge, including X-rays, screening and educational material on how to protect their teeth. Additionally, Raymond and DJ Kitty were on hand to greet the kids, along with the Ray Team, face painters, balloon artists and Rays baseball camp coaches.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Since 2008, the Rays Baseball Foundation has teamed up with local partners to provide more than $1 million in college scholarships to students participating in the Take Stock in Children program in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota counties. The foundation also funds the Academy Prep Centers for Education Scholarships in Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Lakeland, the St. Petersburg College Foundation First Generation Scholars, Barry Jones Memorial Scholarship, Don Zimmer Memorial Scholarship and St. Peter Claver Early Childhood Education Scholarship.

GRANTS

COMMUNITY FUND GRANT PROGRAM

The Rays Community Fund Grant Program provides assistance to local nonprofits in the Tampa Bay region. These grants help enhance and support current programs offered by community-based nonprofit organizations. The foundation has invested more than $1.6 million in over 300 local nonprofits through this program.

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM

The Rays Baseball Foundation is proud to maintain long-standing partnerships with key community organizations throughout Tampa Bay. The foundation provides grants each year to established community partners in support of existing programs that serve youth and educational initiatives in the region.

· Academy Prep Centers of Tampa, St. Petersburg & Lakeland

· ALS Association Florida Chapter

· American Heart Association

· Autism Speaks

· Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Charlotte County

· Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast

· Buddy Baseball

· Burg Baseball

· CASA (Community Action Stops Abuse) St. Petersburg

· Child’s Park YMCA

· Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation

· Children’s Dream Fund

· City of St. Petersburg Parks & Recreation

· City of Tampa Parks & Recreation

· Clearwater for Youth

· Community Tampa Bay

· Crisis Center of Tampa Bay

· Feeding Tampa Bay

· Florida Holocaust Museum

· Frameworks

· Great Explorations

· Heart Gallery of Pinellas & Pasco

· Hillsborough Education Foundation

· Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay

· Manatee Education Foundation

· Pasco Education Foundation

· Pinellas Education Foundation

· Positive Coaching Alliance — Tampa Bay

· Poynter Institute

· Rays RBI Tampa

· Ready for Life

· Ronald McDonald House Charities of Tampa Bay

· Starting Right, Now

· St. Petersburg College

· St. Peter Claver Catholic School

· Take Stock in Children — Manatee

· Take Stock in Children — Sarasota

· Tampa Bay Watch

· Tampa General Hospital Foundation

· Tampa Jewish Community Centers

· Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA

· Team Smile

· YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg

· YMCA of the Suncoast

RAYS IN THE COMMUNITY

EMPLOYEE COMMUNITY OUTREACH TEAM (ECOT)

The Rays Employee Community Outreach Team (ECOT) was established in 2008 to provide invaluable volunteer hours to community service agencies that enhance or improve the quality of life in the communities they serve. Service projects are chosen from ideas suggested by an employee-led committee. Volunteering not only benefits the community, but also Rays employees, by allowing them to give back in a meaningful way through the course of their normal work day. In total, Rays employees have logged more than 38,000 volunteer hours to support nonprofits in the Tampa Bay region.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC BACK-TO-SCHOOL EVENT

On August 19, 2019, the Tampa Bay Rays delivered school supplies, backpacks, uniforms, hygiene products, sports equipment and Rays giveaway items to the students at Escuela Basica Patria Mirabal, a primary school adjacent to the Rays Academy in Guerra, Dominican Republic. On the first day of school, each student received their very own backpack full of the aforementioned items, a very special lunch catered by our Executive Chef from the Rays Academy and topped off the day with an ice cream party. The afternoon included the chance to play baseball, lots of dancing and a number of other games alongside the community engagement department and Rays Academy staff. The teachers were also provided with a substantial supply of items for use throughout the school year.

Additionally, the Rays hired a local contractor to make significant improvements to the school’s infrastructure, including the addition of running water. The installation of a well and a functional sink made the school eligible for a government-funded hot lunch program. The improvements also included painting both the interior and exterior of the buildings, installing brand new restrooms facilities, laying the foundation for a basketball court and providing the necessary playing equipment. The impact was felt throughout the neighborhood and around much of Guerra, with over 200 in attendance and readying more than 100 children for the upcoming school year. The Rays are planning to stay closely connected to the school for the foreseeable future.

HURRICANE DORIAN RELIEF

In response to the devastation in the Bahamas, caused by Hurricane Dorian in September 2019, the Rays hosted a hurricane relief donation drive at Tropicana Field. Over 30,000 pounds of supplies were collected. The supplies were delivered to the Bahamas, in partnership with Sol Relief, a group dedicated to disaster relief in the United States and the Caribbean.

IN-KIND DONATIONS

Each year, the Rays donate thousands of tickets, suites, experiences and autographed memorabilia to assist organizations in our nine neighboring counties to raise funds for their respective causes.

PLAY BALL

The goal of Rays Play Ball is to celebrate youth baseball and softball while simultaneously encouraging participation in all forms of the game. The Rays do this through support of Rays RBI Tampa and Burg Baseball, the Rays Jersey Program, field renovations and many Play Ball events, like Play Ball Day and Play Ball Weekend.

PLAYER & RAYS WIVES PROGRAMS

TUESDAY’S CHAMPION

Before every Tuesday home game at Tropicana Field, the Rays host a child from the Make-A-Wish Foundation or Children’s Dream Fund at the ballpark as a part of a special program called “Tuesday’s Champion.” The kids, accompanied by their families, are invited to be on the field during batting practice where they can meet and interact with Rays players and coaches. They are then treated to dinner in the Rays Club before taking the field and throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Along with these experiences, they are also given a personalized jersey and a bat. The children selected for the program are battling life-threatening illnesses and many come straight from the hospital for this special experience.

KIERMAIER’S KIDS

With a $25,000 donation to the Children’s Dream Fund, Kevin Kiermaier, and his wife, Marisa, are fulfilling the dreams of six children — “Kiermaier’s Kids” — who are living with life threatening illnesses. The Kiermaier’s Kids’ dreams included meeting Mickey Mouse, visiting Disney World to meet the princesses, setting sail on a Disney cruise, attending a Queen concert, a full car makeover and a new, fully equipped tool shed.

LOWE’S HOME RUNS FOR HOPE

This 2019 season, for every home run Rays infielder Brandon Lowe hits, he and his wife, Madison, donated $100 to the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay. The Rays Baseball Foundation also contributed $100 per home run in support of Lowe’s “Home Runs for Hope” campaign. The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay provides a range of programs and services to ensure that no one in the community has to face a crisis alone. It is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year as the community gateway to help. People who are struggling with a variety of crisis situations including sexual assault or abuse, domestic violence, financial distress, substance abuse, medical emergency, suicidal thoughts and other emotional or situational problems can connect to hope and healing.

LOWE’S LEGENDS

As part of the Lowe’s Legends program, Brandon Lowe, and his wife, Madison, host local youth baseball and softball teams for batting practice and provide them tickets to the games. During batting practice, the teams have the opportunity to meet Brandon and Madison and learn about their experiences through baseball and softball. In addition, the Lowes hosted a baseball and softball clinic at Tropicana Field.

HOSPITAL VISITS

The Rays proudly partner with Tampa General Hospital, Moffitt Cancer Center and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital to bring players, coaches and mascots several times throughout the season to raise the spirits of patients and their families.

MINOR LEAGUE ERIK WALKER AWARD

The Erik Walker Community Champion Award annually recognizes Rays minor league players who exemplify teamwork, sportsmanship and community involvement, attributes exhibited by Rays minor league pitcher Erik Walker, who died tragically in October 2006. Each player chooses a nonprofit organization to receive a donation from the Rays Baseball Foundation.

PHAM NATIONAL KERATOCONUS FOUNDATION EVENT

On June 12, 2019, Tommy Pham, Rays outfielder and National Keratoconus Foundation Ambassador, hosted a post-game reception and panel discussion, benefiting the National Keratoconus Foundation. The panel discussion featured keratoconus experts, including Tommy, who spoke about his experiences with keratoconus and the effects it has had on his life. Pham also hosted an online auction of game-used and autographed memorabilia, with proceeds benefiting the National Keratoconus Foundation.

ROBERTO CLEMENTE AWARD

Each season, the Rays nominate a player for the Roberto Clemente Award. The Roberto Clemente Award is the annual recognition of a player from each MLB club who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field. In 2019, the Rays nominated Kevin Kiermaier for this prestigious award.

RAYS WIVES

Throughout the baseball season, the Rays Wives plan and participate in various community events benefiting organizations of their choice. In 2019, the Rays Wives’ events benefited the A21 Campaign, Children’s Dream Fund, Community Cooperative, Feeding Tampa Bay, Home Run Club, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, Pet Pal Animal Shelter, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Tampa Bay and Starting Right, Now.

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