Miami Marlins celebrate the holidays with over $150,000 in charitable giving
Marlins donate Food, Toys and engage in company-wide giving in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties
Miami, FL – In the spirit of the holidays, the Miami Marlins are helping those that need it most. The Marlins hosted toy and food distributions, as well as holiday parties and special donations throughout the community. In addition to these distributions, Marlins front office staff will be donating gift baskets filled with toys and everyday essentials to ten families in need this week.
Marlins Holiday Route:
(1) On Friday, December 2nd the Marlins Foundation presented a $5,000 contribution to Seraphic Fire Choral Academy Winter Choral Festival at the Church of Saint Martha. Seraphic Fire’s Miami Choral Academy, in partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, is a tuition-free afterschool program serving elementary students and their families in economically disadvantaged communities of Miami-Dade County. MCA’s music integration curriculum focuses on making connections between music, math, language arts, history, movement, theater and visual arts.
(2) On Saturday, December 10th Marlins Ayudan teamed up with Kiwanis of Little Havana to distribute toys to children in the community at Jose Marti Park.
(3) On Tuesday, December 13th the Marlins celebrated with parents and children of Citrus Grove Elementary at their Annual Christmas Performance. Earlier this year, the Marlins helped build a brand new state of the art playground for the students of this school.
(4) On Tuesday, December 13th the Marlins Ayudan team visited Dorsey Park in Overtown. Marlins Ayudan helped young artists paint a mural in honor of the Negro Leagues.
(5) On Wednesday, December 14th the Marlins Foundation and Johnson Controls, presented a contribution of $10,000 to the Leadership Learning Center at St. John Bosco Church in Little Havana. The Leadership Learning Center is an afterschool program for youth in the area surrounding the New Ballpark and provides homework assistance, computer lab, literacy, social skills, fitness and creative arts programming. The children presented a butterfly garden to the Miami Marlins and a tree to Johnson Controls in appreciation of their gifts.
(6) On Thursday, December 15th Marlins Ayudan (a front-office volunteer program) donated $50,000 in its first organized Day of Service and Community Engagement as the Miami Marlins. Employees from across the organization broke into fifteen teams of ten, wearing blue Marlins Ayudan jerseys and canvassed the neighborhoods and business districts surrounding the New Marlins Ballpark. Marlins Ayudan is a collaborative front office volunteer program that provides permanent enhancements to the community.
Ayudan teams interacted with neighbors, performed random acts of kindness, visited key Miami landmarks and performed community service all in order to make Miami a better place to live, learn and play. Each team had $1000 cash to creatively perform random acts of kindness while exploring Miami and volunteered at some of our neighborhood schools. Each team captured their experiences on video and engaged the residents they encountered.
The day began at Shake-A-Leg where Marlins President, David Samson, joined by representatives from Publix Supermarkets, gave a $25,000 donation to this great organization. The Marlins chose to begin the day at Shake-A-Leg because it demonstrates the team’s philosophy of giving. This bayfront Miami organization helps people with physical, developmental and economic challenges enjoy sailing, kayaking and other types of water activities.
The Miami Dade Police Department also joined in this day of service and was present as members of Marlins Ayudan laid a wreath at the Law Enforcement Memorial. At the closing ceremony at the new Marlins Ballpark, a donation was made to the Police Officers Assistance Trust Holiday Gifts for Surviving Children Program.
(7) On Saturday, December 17th Marlins assisted the Broward Sheriff’s Office with their Toys for Tots and Teens distribution event at the BSO Public Safety Building (2601 W Broward Blvd, Ft. Lauderdale). In addition to the toy distribution, the Marlins Foundation presented a check in the amount of $6,500.
(8) On Saturday, December 17th the Marlins also contributed $2,500 towards a holiday party at the Little Haiti Optimist Club.
(9) This week, from December 19th through December 21st, Marlins Ayudan will distribute toys and daily essentials to those families who participated in the Neighbors 4 Neighbors Adopt-A-Family program. This year, Marlins front office staff adopted ten families. Throughout the three days, Marlins employees will be making special visits to each family, providing them with toys and items from their wish list. Media is invited to join the team in these special visits. The Marlins will be visiting the Roberson family on Wednesday, 21 from 5pm to 6:30pm at 3352 NW 49th street, Miami, FL, 33142. Robersons will be receiving a Christmas tree, decorations, shirts, shoes, jeans, T-shirts, sweaters and toys.