Major League Baseball is Making a Difference

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By JohnPosted In: Charity in SportsTagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Since 2010, the Allan H. Selig Award for Philanthropic Excellence has recognized the charitable initiatives of Major League Baseball (MLB) clubs. Named after former Commissioner Allan H. Selig, the award honors programs that demonstrate innovation, inclusion, and social responsibility.

For 2024, five MLB clubs have been named finalists, each representing a unique contribution to community betterment:

  • Chicago Cubs: Their Careers As Sports Executives (CASE) program provides free training and career opportunities for high school students interested in the sports industry.
  • Minnesota Twins: Partnering with Special Olympics Minnesota and Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, the Twins’ adaptive youth sports programs foster inclusion and create opportunities for athletes of all abilities.
  • Washington Nationals: With a decade of community initiatives, the Nationals have focused on education, youth development, and social impact in the D.C. area.
  • Kansas City Royals: Their Shut Out the Stigma program, in collaboration with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, raises awareness about mental health, particularly in youth sports, and provides resources for those in need.
  • Atlanta Braves: The Our Promise to Hank initiative promotes equity and access to baseball by increasing minority participation in under-resourced communities.

Fans played a role in the selection process through an online vote, which closed on October 18. The winner will be announced during the MLB Winter Meetings in December.

Win or lose, the 2024 finalists show that baseball is about more than just the game. Whether by creating career pathways, promoting inclusion, or investing in communities, these clubs exemplify how sports can inspire positive change and demonstrate how baseball’s impact extends beyond the field, touching communities across the nation.

Bridle up Hope

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By JohnPosted In: ChildFund InternationalTagged:

Rachel Covey was a talented equestrian who passed away at the age of 21 after battling with severe depression for many years.

Rachel, who was Stephen Covey’s granddaughter (author of several books, including “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”), left behind a strong legacy. Since she loved horses and often took her friends riding, Rachel’s family started a charity organization, “Bridle up Hope” to honor her memory.

“Bridle up Hope” is a 14-week program that teaches girls how to ride horses while gaining life skills such as confidence and resilience. Volunteering is built into the program; participants earn free lessons for the time they volunteer in the barn.

A similar program is offered to women, who are later given the opportunity to mentor girls. Built into both these programs are lessons on the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” habits that can help bolster coping skills.

“Bridle up Hope” was started in 2013 by Rachel’s parents. It is located at the foot of the alpine mountains in Alpine, Utah. The program is geared towards girls and women who are struggling with anxiety, depression or have experienced trauma.

Justin Timberlake Greets Post-Surgery Fan

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By JohnPosted In: Charity ActivityTagged: , , ,

timberlakeSome celebrities really know how to have their priorities in place. Recently, while on tour, Justin Timberlake put his press tour on hold to meet one fan. Giana DiLascio, 13, has survived brain surgery and recently won concert tickets from a radio station. When Timberlake walked into the room where Giana was standing, her mom called out to him and explained their situation.

Timberlake stopped what he was doing to take a picture with Giana and talk. As she said to ABC News, “I couldn’t believe it. I’m still in shock.”

A year ago, Giana had surgery for a condition called Hydrocephalus, a condition that causes excessive fluid to form in the brain. As her mom said to The Huffington Post, “He gave her great joy. He made her feel important.” As she continued, “She put out such a positive message for children going through something traumatic. She made it seem like, ‘look you can get through this.’”

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Prizeo: A New Way to Raise Money for Charities

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By JohnPosted In: Charity ActivityTagged: , ,

logo-symbolPrizeo is making waves in the celebrity charity world. They are a start-up that is working with celebrities to create what they call “once-in-a-lifetime” experiences for the average person, while helping to raise money.

As founder Bryan Baum explained, “The raffle structure is the best way to fundraise and collect consumer data. Auctions only get money from highest bidder, but raffles open this up to masses and get money from everyone.”

The way that their model works is as follows. People enter a Prizeo raffle by making a small donation to a celebrity’s designated charity. A winner is then chosen from the people who made a donation to receive the designated adventure. The adventure might be an afternoon of tea with your favorite band or a chance to meet a great performer. Runners up will also get prizes.

In order to make this model work, Prizeo obviously needs a pool of celebrities who are willing to be part of the program. The start-up has teamed with talent agency WME to make this portion of the plan work.

Meet Pete Townshend & Benefit the Children’s Defense Fund

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By JohnPosted In: Charity ActivityTagged: , , ,

peteIf you’re a fan of The Who, this might be your big chance to enjoy seeing them. CharityBuzz.com is auctioning off your chance to meet Pete Townshend and to get four great seats to The Who concert on February 21 in New York at the Nassau Coliseum. The auction benefits the Children’s Defense Fund.

As stated at CharityBuzz, “The mission of the Children’s Defense Fund is to Leave No Child Behind and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick or into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown.”

Being part of the auction means that you can support a worthy cause and get to meet a legend at the same time!

Buy the Voice of God for Charity : Only $299!

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By JohnPosted In: Charity ActivityTagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Autism Speaks recently held a brilliant year-end fundraising campaign. They offered supporters the chance to buy custom-recorded messages from celebrities like Tom Hanks, Ed Asner, Will Ferrell, Carrie Fisher, Derek Jeter, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Betty White and Morgan Freeman.

One of the fastest selling items, according to Marc Sirkin, the charity’s chief digital marketing officer, was the Morgan Freeman recording, as his deep voice has earned him the nickname “Voice of God.” The campaign ran for the first week of December only, and anyone who wanted a voicemail greeting from a star could donate $299 to Autism Speaks. Each celebrity message was limited to 50 people. When a message was purchased, the fan was able to tailor a script for the celebrity to say, as long as it didn’t include any advertising. Each celebrity had final approval of the messages.

When the campaign ended, 346 of the possible 500 messages were sold. They raised $103,000 for Autism Speaks. Hear more from Austism Speaks about this campaign.

See more with their video for the campaign.

Ideas for Charitable Giving to Education

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By JohnPosted In: Charity ActivityTagged: , , ,

classSometimes, even if you have the time or money to dedicate towards helping others, you just don’t know where to begin. It’s ironic that we often end up doing nothing simply because we don’t have direction for our efforts. For people who are interested in improving educational opportunities for children in America and around the world, there are certainly thousands of resources.

One way to help children and to impact educational services is to think small. Talk to a local school and see what needs they have in the library. You might start a few magazine subscriptions from National Publishers Exchange or another company and have those educational magazines sent to the library each month. Turtle magazine, for instance, helps early readers and can be sent by National Publishers Exchange each month.

For people who want to send money somewhere or do something more global, here are just three of the thousands of possibilities to give you a taste of the choices for charitable giving.

1. Aura’s House: This is a grassroots project that raises money for housing, health, income generation and educational projects for children in developing countries. since 2003, they have been working with Children International.

2. ClassWish: This is a nonprofit organization that addresses the shortage of teaching supplies by allowing teachers, administrators and others to go to ClassWish.org and create Wish Lists of the items they need for their classes. People can then pitch in to help with the needs that the school identifies.

3. Say Yes to Education, Inc.: This is a United States non-profit that wants to improve inner-city schools. They offer support services at at-risk locations and pledge full scholarships for college or vocational education for children living in poverty.

Will Smith & Jada Pinkett Smith Travel to Ethiopia for Charity

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By JohnPosted In: PovertyTagged: , , , , ,

It’s nice to see some celebrities putting their money in the right place. On July 6, 2012, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith traveled to Ethiopia with charity:water.  Their plan started in 2010 when, rather than having birthday presents that year, they donated money to charity:water. They asked their fans to do the same and they vowed that they would take the top fundraisers on a trip to Africa.

With 2013 separate campaigns, they raised more than $789,000. The Smiths also raise another $109,000 on their own and all of this money was given to charity.

Along with top fundraisers, The Smile Generation and Authentic Jobs, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith traveled to Ethiopia, spending two days in Tigray visiting communities and schools. They were able to witness the inauguration of one new well called Yellow Thunder in Meago village as part of charity:water’s 31st dig. Just in Tigray, charity:water has funded over 1000 water projects with its partners, A Glimmer of Hope, and Relief Society of Tigray.

As Will Smith told US Weekly,

“Our trip to Ethiopia with charity: water was an incredibly eye-opening and authentic experience. It was extraordinary to meet and spend time with the people of Tigray and to see first-hand how clean water changes everything for these communities.”

Charity Wine to Water Making a Difference

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By M. MarksPosted In: Education, UncategorizedTagged: , , ,

Doc Hendley

Doc Hendley

People’s individual stories can be incredibly inspirational. Doc Hendley was raised by Christian missionaries and soon became a rebel and party-goer.  As he said, “Everything was just about me and what I was doing that night.”

Then, a close friend pushed him to do something meaningful with his life, and he came upon the idea for a charity in 2004.  Wine to Water.org was started in Boone, North Carolina and today has a budget of $500,000 with programs that repair wells and offer water filtration in countries like Uganda, India, Cambodia, Peru and Haiti.

He’s recently published a book called “Wine to Water: A Bartender’s Quest to Bring Clean Water to the World.”

After visiting the Sudan’s Darfur region and seeing how emaciated the women and children were, Hendley enrolled in a well-repair training program that was run by the United Nations Children’s Fund.

As Hendley explained, “That began the evolution of my nonprofit. I want all the projects I do to have local involvement, to have the local people getting their hands dirty and doing the work. That way, it’s more sustainable.”

While he faces many uphill battles, Hendley feels good about the nonprofit he’s created and the work that he is doing.  As he said, “I kept asking: ‘Is this work worth it? And I said, ‘Yes.’ To see what happens when you give mothers an opportunity to give their children clean water so that they don’t have to bury any more of their babies from diarrheal disease, is so life-changing to me.”