MLB honors White Sox for charity work
Major League Baseball and Baseball Commissioner Allan H. “Bud” Selig have named the Chicago White Sox as the 2011 recipients of the Commissioner’s Award for Philanthropic Excellence, an honor established in 2010 to recognize the outstanding community efforts of a baseball club.
Singled out for this year’s award is the White Sox Volunteer Corps program, an initiative designed to activate the Club’s fan base to help give back to the greater Chicago community through service. The White Sox will receive a $10,000 grant from Major League Baseball to continue their efforts.
“The Chicago White Sox have made an outstanding commitment to giving back to their community, epitomized by their innovative White Sox Volunteer Corps program,” Selig said. “Their creative approach to galvanizing community members by having them work side by side with players, coaches and club executives has made an indelible impact on the city of Chicago.”
The White Sox Volunteer Corps mobilized nearly 5,000 volunteers and 116 White Sox employees who performed more than 17,000 hours of community service. Service events have included facility improvement, remodeling and renovation projects at Chicago Public Schools and local Boys & Girls Clubs, food repacking and mobile pantry events at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, and blood drives conducted in conjunction with the American Red Cross.
“We are incredibly humbled to receive this prestigious award,” said White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. “The true recipients of this honor are the thousands of White Sox fans who donate their time and hard work as members of the White Sox Volunteer Corps. The work they have accomplished is an inspiration to all of us and to all of Chicago.”
Launched in 2009, the White Sox Volunteer Corps has contributed labor valued at more than $380,000 through volunteer hours. The corps is also responsible for the donation of more than $510,000 to non-profit partners to help with the planning and execution of service events, also covering the cost of materials and volunteer services. For more information or to sign up for service events, visit whitesox.com/volunteercorps.