Oakland A's utility man Chad Pinder has been named the recipient of the 2018 Dave Stewart Community Service Award, the team announced today. Stewart will present Pinder with the award prior to the game on Thursday, Sept. 20 in a special on-field ceremony. The Dave Stewart Community Service Award is given annually to an A's player in recognition of charitable contributions throughout Northern California and across the nation. 
Pinder and his fiancée Taylor have teamed up with the School of Imagination in Dublin, Calif. Founded in 2011, the school is committed to bringing out the extraordinary in every child by offering groundbreaking early-childhood education programs, cutting-edge intervention services, and a full-inclusion preschool that empowers special needs children to excel along with their typical peers. Even through the busy MLB schedule, Pinder visits the school and its students every month -- frequently with teammates he encourages to join. During his visits, he brings A's goodies and joins students for reading time, games -- like dress-up and toy dinosaurs, and recess on the playground. To provide further support for the school and its students, Pinder has started a fundraising page. Fans can make a donation at gofundme.com/chadpinder.  
In addition, Pinder is a constant at A's community events, participating in events like Game Night, which raised more than $90,000 for the Oakland A's Community Fund; hospital visits to deliver Starlight Gowns to pediatric cancer patients; and distributing shoes, backpacks, T-shirts and A's hats to kids from the M. Robinson Baker YMCA.
The award originated in 1996 in honor of Stewart's many years of community service in the Bay Area. Throughout the years, Stewart has been involved in many non-profit organizations, including the Oakland Boys & Girls Club and Team-Up for Youth, a program that supports healthy development for young people living in low-income communities through after-school sports and physical activity programs. 
Previous winners of the Dave Stewart Community Service Award include: Ernie Young (1996), Scott Spiezio (1997), Tom Candiotti (1998), Art Howe (1999), Jason Giambi (2000), Terrence Long (2001), Tim Hudson (2002), Scott Hatteberg (2003), Eric Chavez (2004), Barry Zito (2005), Mark Kotsay (2006), Mark Ellis (2007), Dana Eveland (2008), Dallas Braden and Kurt Suzuki (2009), Craig Breslow (2010), Josh Willingham (2011), Jonny Gomes (2012), Sean Doolittle (2013), Jed Lowrie (2014), Stephen Vogt (2015, 2016), and Liam Hendriks (2017).