Community Programs
Sweetbay has been a supporter of the Rays since 2008 but they've also been a big supporter of Feeding America Tampa Bay. In 2012 alone, Sweetbay donated nearly 10 million pounds of food to Feeding America and its local food pantries. In addition, Sweetbay committed to donating funds for the first Rays double play of every game to help bring food into the communities that need it most. Through the generosity of Sweetbay and the Rays great defense, Sweetbay now sponsors two mobile pantries a month through Feeding America. These mobile pantries distribute food to approximately 400 people at each stop. Before the Tuesday, October 2 game vs. the Baltimore Orioles, Eddie Garcia, Vice President of Operations for Sweetbay, presented a check to Pat Rogers, Executive Director of Feeding America Tampa Bay, in the amount of $35,000 to fund mobile pantries this year.
In 2010, the Mosaic Company announced the "Home Runs for Food" promotion with Feeding America Tampa Bay and the Rays to help feed hungry families in the area. Under the three-year commitment, Mosaic has contributed $500 to the food bank for every home run hit by the Rays during regular season games. In 2010, Mosaic donated a total of $82,000 to Feeding America Tampa Bay. In 2011, Mosaic made a donation of $88,500. In 2012, Mosaic donated another $89,500 through their "Home Runs for Food" program for a total contribution of $260,000 to Feeding America Tampa Bay.
Jabil teamed up with the Rays this year for the "Hits for Kids" program to help benefit the Rays South St. Petersburg Neighborhood Initiative. For the first Rays hit of each game, Jabil donated $500 to the Rays Baseball Foundation to benefit programs like the Campbell Park Elementary Walking School Bus. The Walking School Bus provides children in the surrounding Campbell Park Elementary neighborhoods a safe and timely way of getting to school as parents and community volunteers lead participating children along designated walking routes. The Campbell Park Walking School Bus came about after a 2011 United Way needs assessment, commissioned by the Rays Baseball Foundation, found that 25 percent of Campbell Park Elementary students were missing 20 or more days of school. The lack of a safe way to get children to school was identified as a major cause of the high truancy rates. In 2012, Jabil's donation of $75,000 has helped start the program by providing financial means that will go towards maintaining the program and help provide items including wagons, safety vests, umbrellas and so much more.
Hess Express and the Rays are working together to help the overall effort in caring for regional pediatric patients and their families. In 2012, Hess Express and the Rays developed a season-long community focused program called the "Hess Express Hitter". When a selected Rays player recorded his first hit, Hess Express donated $1,500 to Tampa General Hospital Children's Medical Center, Florida's leading academic medical center for pediatric patients. Hess Expressed donated a total of $100,000 based on cumulative hitting performance derived from selected Rays players throughout the regular season. The $100,000 contribution from Hess Express has gone towards improvements to Tampa General Hospital Children's Medical Center to assist kids and their families undergoing long-term treatment. A project list was developed to fulfill the needs for new rehab equipment, including a pediatric motomed, an adaptive bicycle, pediatric wheelchairs, a litegaite, and other rehab equipment such as six new iPads and two Exam Tables. About one-half of the total $100,000 donation, was spent on refurbishing and furnishing the parents lounge, waiting room and the pediatric school.
During this past season, Rays players and team mascot, Raymond, made three visits to All Children’s Hospital as a part of Sagicor Life Insurance’s "Rays Kids Spirits Days." Each patient received a co-branded Rays and Sagicor baseball pillow as well as an autograph and photograph from the players and Raymond. Sagicor Life Insurance and the Rays created the "Rays Kids Spirits Days" program in 2010 to show support to the children, families and staff at All Children’s Hospital.
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", presented by Sagicor Life Insurance. 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 Hancock Bank Club before taking the field and throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Along with these experiences, they are also given a personalized jersey and bat. The children selected for the program are battling life-threatening illnesses and many come straight from the hospital.
Moffitt Cancer Center and the Rays continue their relationship once again this season through a myriad of activities. Spring Swing – Moffitt’s Sun Safety Tour – is a partnership between Moffitt Cancer Center and the Tampa Bay Rays, offering free skin cancer screenings at specified baseball Spring Training venues throughout the month of March. The Rays also provided Moffitt Cancer Center unique auction items at the Moffitt Magnolia Ball including a private hitting lesson with Rays 3B Evan Longoria. Miles for Moffitt provides runners of all skill level the ability to help raise money for cancer research. The Rays helped contribute to the race by providing a financial donation of $5,000, donating two tickets for a future Rays game to each runner who participated and having Raymond on-hand to join in on the Kids Fun Run. The Rays further assisted Moffitt’s fundraising efforts by donating half of the proceeds from the Turn Back the Clock online auction of signed, game-worn uniforms from the Rays and Detroit Tigers who played a game featuring uniforms worn (and even imagined to have been worn) back in the 1970’s. The donation provided to Moffitt Cancer Center from the online auction provided over $26,000 to benefit Moffitt’s 2012 Key to the Cure Kickoff Party, Fashion Show and charity shopping weekend. The Rays and Moffitt also teamed up in the month of September to promote Prostate Cancer Awareness Month by providing the first 3,000 men with a foam finger giveaway that helped raise awareness.
The Rays provide a row of 24 seats for each game in a row behind the Rays bullpen entitled "MacDillville" presented by Grow Financial Federal Credit Union and Florida Blood Services to men and women of MacDill Air Force Base in honor of their military service. On Sunday home games, the Rays take time to recognize certain individual MacDillville occupants who have relatives that find themselves overseas. Unbeknown to these individuals attending the game, the Rays coordinate a pre-taped video message featuring their military personnel relative which is shown during an inning break on RaysVision. The family watches the surprise message from the family with a traditional standing ovation following given by the Tropicana Field crowd.
State Farm has continued in their partnership to once again recognize those who go above and beyond in the Tampa Bay community. Through the "Go To Bat Award", State Farm and the Rays award an individual or group that has stepped up and has gone to bat for their community. Individuals and groups who won the award during the 2012 season included: Kim Greenleaf of Eckerd Raising Hope; Richard Pearson, United Way volunteer; Tammy and Chris Dunne, adopting parents through the Big Game James Club; Bill Walsh, Big Brothers Big Sisters’ School-Based Mentor of the Year; Jeanette DeYoung, All Children’s Hospital volunteer; Joyce Galiardo of Fish and Wildlife and Friends of Tampa Bay. State Farm and the Rays recognize these winners by providing them with on-field passes before a game, recognition in a pre-game ceremony and a personalized engraved bat.
In 2012, the Rays and the Hillsborough Community College Foundation created the "Good Start Program" to help give others a good start to their college education. Under the "Good Start Program" a $100 scholarship donation was made to the Hillsborough Community College Foundation for the first Rays run scored during each game, generating a total donation of $15,000.
For every game that the Rays loaded the bases this past season, Waste Management donated $100 to Great Explorations Children's Museum and the Glazer Children's Museum. In 2012, Waste Management donated a total of $7,000 for the "Bases Loaded" promotion.
Bagster Drive #1:
"Thanksmas in July" Toiletries Supplies Drive Benefitting the Salvation Army
The Rays Wives and Waste Management teamed up for "Thanksmas in July" by holding a toiletries supply drive to benefit the Salvation Army St. Petersburg Area Command during the Detroit series June 29-July 1. Items collected ranged from shampoo/conditioner to toothpaste and Band-Aids.
Bagster Drive #2:
Equipment Drive
The Baseball Tomorrow Fund and Waste Management teamed up for a baseball and softball equipment drive, to benefit the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Police Athletic League during the New York Yankees series September 3-September 5. Items collected ranged from new to slightly used baseball and softball equipment. Fans were encouraged to bring these items to the Waste Management Bagster Bag collection points located around the stadium.
The Rays and the Gold & Diamond Source created a partnership that focused on a walks theme promotion. With the first walk drawn by the Rays each game from April 6 - May 30, Gold & Diamond Source and the Rays each donated $100 to "Hands Across the Bay" in an effort to support the "Walk for Hope and Help" event on June 9. The combined donation throughout the promotion generated $10,000. "Hands Across the Bay" presented the "Walk for Hope and Help" to promote awareness of suicide prevention. The walk was held on June 9 and gave those who have been affected by suicide the opportunity to remember their loved ones.
Just For Men AutoStop and the Rays teamed up this year to donate $12,000 to local Little Leagues through the "Strike Out the Gray, Tampa Bay!" campaign. A friendly competition among three local Tampa Bay area Little Leagues; Dade City, Inverness and West Tampa Little Leagues all sought online pledges from parents and fans who would agree that they would help strike out gray hair in Tampa Bay. The $12,000 donation would help benefit the respective Little Leagues by assisting with player scholarships, park renovations and other improvements.
