Yearlong efforts help A's serve Bay Area community
OAKLAND -- The A's philanthropic endeavors of 2014 ran parallel to their on-field success, with the organization donating nearly $500,000 to various Bay Area charities this year.
The A's Community Fund has long been a pillar of charity work in the Bay Area and beyond, providing not only hundreds of thousands of dollars in monetary contributions to dozens of charities each year but memories that won't soon be forgotten by those involved.
The Community Fund also donated more than 37,000 tickets to deserving non-profit organizations, as well as auction items, always seeking to fund endeavors that aide in improving the quality of life for people.
One of the season's highlights came in May, when the A's raised $70,635 on Breast Cancer Awareness Day, with proceeds benefiting the American Cancer Society and the Cancer Prevention Institute of California.
For the second consecutive year, this year's total donation eclipsed the previous year's by 15 percent. Since the inaugural event in 1999, the A's and their partners have raised nearly $1.4 million for breast cancer education and research.
Among the season's other highlights:
• The annual A's Community Fund Golf Classic, held in August, brought out several current and former A's players and raised $100,000 for the Community Fund through the tournament, along with live and silent auctions.
• The 15th annual A's Root Beer Float Day raised $29,189, with all proceeds going to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
• The A's reeled in more than $16,000 for the Jim "Catfish" Hunter ALS Foundation during a weekend-long celebration of the 40th anniversary of the 1974 World Series team.
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• The club also reunited the 1989 World Series-champion A's with a celebratory weekend, along the way raising $35,000 for the Angelman Syndrome Foundation, the preferred charity of former A's center fielder Dave Henderson. Henderson's son, Chase, was diagnosed with AS -- a neurogenetic disorder that causes severe developmental delays -- in 1987.
• The A's awarded $5,000 to the Oakland RBI program in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oakland.
• In partnership with the Good Tidings Foundation and Pacific Gas & Electric, the A's Community Fund refurbished a pair of fields: the Martin Luther King Jr. Field in Richmond and Del Mar High School in San Jose.
• The A's Amigos Program offered Hispanic youth the opportunity to interact with bilingual A's players about the value of sportsmanship and hard work.
The giving doesn't stop there. The A's will soon announce plans for their annual Holiday Caravan Tour, which features a pair of players making several stops around the Bay Area, including visits with schools.