Thank You, Volunteers!
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Orioles have partnered with more than 30 nonprofits in Maryland and Sarasota to help address food insecurity, racial and social injustice, youth development, and many more needs in our communities.
During the club’s celebration of Fan Appreciation Week, the Orioles are recognizing volunteers who have stepped up to help our community members in need. The Orioles are proud to recognize the individuals below who are tirelessly serving our community. Each volunteer listed was nominated by their respective organization and will be receiving an exclusive fan pack as a thank you from the Orioles.
Abbey Bornemeier
Abbey helps with social media outreach, marketing, and fundraising efforts to raise awareness about TransCen, Inc’s mission of meaningful work and community inclusion for people with disabilities. She has served about 10 hours per week since July of this year.
Gail Brown
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Gail volunteered once a week in the Food Bank’s Marketplace location, helping representatives from partner agencies pick up their food orders. When COVID arrived, she continued in the Marketplace and added shifts in the warehouse, sorting and packing donated food. She now volunteers several days a week, often multiple shifts in the same day. Since March 16, she has donated over 400 hours of her time, which is more than any other food bank volunteer during the
Lashelle Bynum
Lashelle assists with client suit fittings, organizes donations, volunteers on the board, and supports daily operations when needed. Over the past five years and prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lashelle volunteered 8 hours a week. Due to fluctuations in business operations, she continues to volunteer 2-3 hours to help with donations, keeping the space clean, and other various operational tasks.
Meghan Curran
Meghan has volunteered on dozens of community art projects, helping with mosaic work, painting, and supporting the programming team with prep work for classes in and out of schools. She has spent over 150 hours per year with Art with a Heart over the past four years.
Elizabeth DePriest
Liz leads groups of volunteers at ShareBaby through quality checking, sorting donated clothing, and wrapping diapers to be distributed to children in need across Baltimore. Liz also regularly holds diaper and monetary drives, mobilizing her network of friends and family to donate much-needed items to ShareBaby. In 2020, Liz has supported ShareBaby's COVID-19 emergency response, through which the organization has distributed over 1.3 million diapers to meet the increased need in Baltimore. In three years, she has volunteered more than 100 hours.
Verlister DeShields
Verlister participates in ongoing clean-ups of community gardens in Baltimore, in addition to supporting people in these greenspaces that are struggling with substance abuse and homelessness. In spring and summer of this year, he has volunteered more than 100 hours.
Nicholas Anthony Fino
Nicholas serves as the chairperson of the Cardboard 2 Leather program which collects used baseball equipment locally and distributes to children with the love of the game but who do not have the equipment to play the sport properly. As C2L chairman, Nick leads the organization to collect equipment and prepare the items for shipment. In spring of 2020, Nick traveled to the Dominican Republic to distribute over 20,000 baseball equipment related items to more than 2,000 children. Nick continues to keep the program functioning during the COVID-19 crisis and ready for the next shipment in the spring. He has volunteered four years with Cardboard 2 Leather, Oriole Advocates, and the Oriole Advocate Charitable Foundation.
Gary Franklin
Gary has volunteered as a youth mentor for I am Mentality for the past three years. While the organization asks for four hours a month from their mentors, Gary goes above and beyond to spend 30 hours monthly volunteering.
Gerald "Gerry" Galuradi
Gerry is a volunteer meal packer with Meals on Wheels. He joined the organization during the COVID-19 pandemic and has completed 278 volunteer hours since April of this year.
Dawn Gillespie
Dawn helps serve food, sort donations, and shops in the Paul’s Place marketplace for guests who are in need of clothing or household items. She has volunteered 125 hours in the past three months.
Master Sgt. Shawn Hagen
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)
Master Sgt. Hagen volunteers as a military mentor, which is someone who currently serves in the military or is a veteran and can be a caring companion and a reminder to TAPS kids during our Good Grief Camps at national and regional seminars, family campouts, and special events, that the military still cares for them. He has volunteered for more than 500 hours in the past four years.
Mark Heesen
Mark volunteers with the kitchen to prepare meals for clients. He has also volunteered for Moveable Feasts’ large fundraising events, Ride for The Feast and Dining Out For Life, and their neighborhood clean-up day. He has been with Moveable Feast for three years serving 378 hours.
Lori Johnson & Heather Deyrieux
Lori and Heather both work tirelessly to pack boxes of canned and dried food items. Over the past six months, they have volunteered more than 1,320 hours.
Ruth Manire
Ruth helps with filing papers, event volunteering, and home projects. She has been volunteering at the hospital for three years and has contributed over 1,200 hours.
Katie Landwehr
Katie has been a family member volunteer at Thread for the past year and half. In her role, Katie supports her high school student in every way imaginable. Together, they have conquered virtual learning and job searches, and connect regularly for ice cream excursions and family dinners around Baltimore. One of Katie's favorite memories as a volunteer was taking her student to his very first Orioles game. As a volunteer with Thread, Katie is committed to building a more equitable Baltimore where everyone thrives. She has donated more than 400 hours over the past year and a half.
Allen Meacham Sr.
Allen started as a coach in 1960 before serving as manager of the Athletics for about 15 years. He has done various volunteer services with the James Mosher Associates over the course of sixty years.
Chanan Rothenberg
Chanan volunteered for The Salvation Army’s COVID-19 Relief Effort, delivering nutritious cold lunches and microwavable dinners to seniors living across 145 senior living facilities and residential housing in Baltimore City. Since April 2020, he has contributed 185 community service hours across 47 days. He was the Salvation Army’s top volunteer!
Emil Sandoz-Rosado
Emil volunteers to help World Central Kitchen distribute food to those in need. He joined the organization in response to COVID-19 in April and has since volunteered 15-20 hours per week.
Galen Shi
Galen assists the WeGo Foundation in Baltimore in providing opportunities for pediatric patients to explore the outside world through telepresence robotics. Over the past five years, he has contributed about 5,000 hours.
Marlene Urwiler
For the past three years, Marlene has volunteered to provide varying support for the hospital. She has served more than 1,400 hours for the Sarasota Community.
Cheryl Tooker
Over the last three years, Cheryl has prepared and cooked meals and delivered groceries and gift cards to residents and families in need.
The Orioles thank all our fans who have supported us this season and all the volunteers who have supported the Birdland community! To learn more about the Orioles’ efforts in the community, please visit Orioles.com/CommunityResources.