PIRATES CHARITIES AND OTHER COMMUNITY NEWS

The Pirates welcomed a group of Pirates RBI and local softball athletes for a Women’s History Month Networking and Service Event. The young athletes heard from a panel made up of women from the Pirates front office, and later networked with the panel that spoke in addition to other female staff from the Pirates and our partners at Duquesne Light. After learning about different career opportunities in sports, the softball athletes and participating female staff members participated in a service project where they put together care packages for The Women’s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh.

On February 22, Pirates Charities hosted a Miracle League Fantasy Camp for 35 athletes from the Miracle League of Manasota alongside Pirates players, coaches, and mascots. Each Miracle League athlete received a custom Pirates jersey with their name on the back, a Pirates hat and other Pirates goodies prior to enjoying the clinic-style event, which took place on an adaptive playing surface to ensure athletes of all abilities could enjoy the event. Each athlete had their name announced during the opening ceremonies, was welcomed to the field by Pirates Chairman Bob Nutting and then rotated through five stations, hitting, pitching, fielding, fly balls and base running, while Pirates players and coaching staff gave them pointers and provided a once-in-a-lifetime experience for these athletes and their families.

In effort to support local veterans during the winter months, players and front office staff volunteers were joined by volunteers from 84 Lumber to make care packages of essential home goods, Pirates goodies, and delivered them along with a meal, catered by Chick-fil-A, to Veterans Place of Washington Boulevard. Veterans Place provides transitional housing, workforce development and employment services, and is the home to the Veterans Resource Center which provides meals, and daily, local transportation special interest programs to support varying needs of veterans and their families!

This holiday season, the Pirates have been proud to support our community through various activations aimed at making the holidays a little brighter for those in need. Through a partnership with the Allegheny County Department of Human Services, the Pirates front office and uniformed staff adopted 150 local kids, providing gifts and stocking stuffers including items such as toys, games, bikes and clothing. In addition, the Pirates took part in the Latino Community Center’s annual holiday event by providing gifts to kids they serve and having Pirates players and the Parrot pose for photos with kids and families, bringing smiles to all who participated. The entire Pittsburgh Pirates organizations wishes you and your loved ones a Happy Holiday season!

This Thanksgiving, the Pirates once again joined forces with the Penguins and Steelers to host a Thanksgiving meal distribution on Pittsburgh's North Shore, which served 300 families in need. Players from each team including David Bednar, Jake Guentzel and Mitch Trubisky proudly sported their black and gold alongside the Pirate Parrot, Iceburgh and Steely McBeam while loading cars with pies and gift cards from Giant Eagle, a fresh turkey and box of all the fixings from the Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and goodies from each of the teams to allow families to celebrate together with their loved ones around a full table.

Pirates front office and uniformed staff teamed up with our friends at Giant Eagle to donate over 500 jars of gravy to Light of Life Rescue Mission for their Thanksgiving distribution. Pittsburgh Pirates David Bednar, Donnie Kelly, and Steve Blass joined the Pirate Parrot to surprise volunteers with a special gravy delivery to contribute to the collection. Through donations such as this, Light of Life will distribute 2,000 Thanksgiving meals to families throughout the Northside so that they can enjoy the holidays with their loved ones.

As a part of its mental health awareness pillar, Pirates Charities has joined forces with Allegheny Health Network to launch Chill Mobile, a retrofitted RV which will offer students across the Pittsburgh region a calming space where they can learn evidence-based coping skills and participate in practical and interactive experiences, with the goal of not only improving individual mental health, but of extending the conversation into the larger community and reducing the stigma surrounding mental health and wellness.

Since the launch of the Pirates Community Commitment Program in 2008, more than 30,000 hours of community service have been performed by players throughout the Pirates' farm system. Three players cited by the Pirates for their outstanding work in that regard this year were: Jase Bowen, a 22-year-old outfielder, who spent four months with the Bradenton Marauders (Low-A) before being promoted to the Greensboro Grasshoppers (High-A) in early August; Brad Case, a 26-year-old pitcher, who was with the Altoona Curve (AA) for the majority of the season; and Jared Oliva, a 26-year-old outfielder, who spent the season with the Indianapolis Indians (AAA).

Jackson "Jax" Ramirez is fighting a rare auto-immune disease and is in need of a bone marrow transplant, but due to his biracial background (Hispanic and White), finding a match has been difficult. Where most people are supplied with pages of potential matches, Jax has not had ONE and his family is desperate to find him a match. To support Jax and the Ramirez family, we hosted a swabbing event at PNC Park in partnership with Be the Match during the Pirates game on September 23. If you are interested in supporting the Ramirez family by joining the registry, you can sign up below to have a swabbing kit mailed to you and to join the registry from the comfort of your own home.

Pirates Charities was honored to host five local organizations assisting military servicemen and women in our community at our Military Monday games this season. Friends of the Pittsburgh Fisher House, Veterans Leadership Program, Helping Heroes, Veterans Breakfast Club, and Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs were all recognized for the incredible work they are doing in our city to help those who defended our freedom receive care, find homes, and get the support they need. Additionally, each Military Monday, Pirates Charities teamed up with TAPS to bring the families of fallen heroes to the ballpark to honor the life of their lost family member and provide a night at the ballpark for them to share time together in their memory.

To help further our mission to impact those in our region affected by cancer, Pirates Charities has partnered with Lending Hearts, a local organization dedicated to supporting pediatric cancer patients and their families. With help from the Lending Hearts team, Pirates Charites hosted Sophia, a young girl currently undergoing treatment for a rare form of leukemia. Sophia was invited to be an honorary member of the Pirates 2022 team photo. Following the team photo, she played catch with Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller and received a special visit from the Pirate Parrot. Sophia and her entire family ended the special visit by enjoying the game from the Home Plate Club. Pirates Charities will keep working with Lending Hearts to provide these memorable moments for kids and their who are affected by cancer.