Elvis Andrus Wins 2014 Jim Sundberg Community Achievement Award
Andrus will receive award at 2015 Dr Pepper Awards Dinner on January 23
Arlington, Texas - The Texas Rangers today announced that shortstop Elvis Andrus is the 2014 recipient of the Jim Sundberg Community Achievement Award. This is the 26th consecutive year that the award has been presented to a member of the Rangers organization for significant contributions to the community.
Andrus has been involved in a number of community initiatives over the last several years. He has had a significant role with the Down Syndrome Guild of Dallas, donating $10,000 each of the last two years to that organization while also participating in its celebrity calendar fundraiser. This past summer, he hosted Down Syndrome families in the "Elvis' Entourage" section during Tuesday night home games. Each participant received an Elvis "big head" as part of the visit to Globe Life Park in Arlington.
He has donated funds to the Special Olympics Summer Games in Arlington the last two years and has participated in a pre-game Special Olympics Torch Run at Globe Life Park. Andrus hosted a Fall Festival for families of Safe Haven of Tarrant County in October with the event including pumpkin decorating, horse driven hay ride, dinner and football with the youngsters. He also donated $5,000 to Safe Haven as well as $100 gift cards to each Safe Haven resident.
In addition, Andrus hosted the Venezuelan Senior RBI team that participated in the Major League Baseball RBI World Series in North Texas this past August. The team attended batting practice and watched a Rangers games from a suite at Globe Life Park.
Among his other donations in 2014 were $2,000 to the Baseball Tomorrow Fund Equipment drive, $5,000 to the SW Little League in Arlington, and $7,000 to Miracle League of Southlake. He has also made donations to the charitable foundations of Robinson Chirinos and Joakim Soria. On Wednesday night, he participated in An Evening with the Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington with proceeds benefitting the Texas Rangers Foundation.
Andrus will be honored at the 2015 Dr Pepper Texas Rangers Awards Dinner on Friday, January 23 at the Dallas Omni Hotel. Tickets for the dinner, which will honor a number of baseball personalities and feature appearances by Texas Rangers past and present, can be purchased at www.texasrangers.com/awards.
Other 2014 team award winners to be honored will include Adrian Beltre, Player of the Year; Yu Darvish, Pitcher of the Year; Rougned Odor, Rookie of the Year; Matt Harrison, Harold McKinney Good Guy Award and Robinson Chirinos, Richard Durrett Hardest Working Man. Additional award winners will be announced in the upcoming weeks.
Proceeds from the 2015 Dr Pepper Awards Dinner benefit the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation.