OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland A’s infielder Tony Kemp has been named the recipient of the 2021 Dave Stewart Community Service Award, given annually to an A’s player in recognition of charitable contributions throughout Northern California and across the nation. Kemp is only the second Oakland A’s player to receive this recognition in consecutive years (Stephen Vogt 2015, 2016).

In 2020, Kemp launched the +1 Effect and began having one-on-one conversations about race, systemic racism, and his own life experiences. Since the launch of the campaign, Kemp and his wife, Michelle, have had hundreds of conversations with teammates, fans, and even those outside of the baseball community -- continuing the idea that changing one mind at a time helps to create a +1 Effect.

In addition to the work he does through his own campaign, Kemp is an active member of the Players Alliance, which works to create an inclusive culture within baseball and the community in order to elevate racial equality and provide greater opportunities for the Black community in our game and in the places we live, play, and care about most. Through the Players Alliance, Kemp participated in a panel with local little league athletes. During his discussion with the group, Kemp emphasized the importance of prioritizing education in addition to a passion for baseball. To demonstrate the importance of a strong educational foundation, Kemp had the youth athletes stand on a book and stand on a baseball -- showing which one provides the most stability in life.

This season, Kemp has also teamed up with Players for the Planet and One Tree Planted to help plant trees in urban communities. Kemp pledged to plant 100 trees for every stolen base and extra base hit he records throughout the season, totalling 3,500 trees donated. Through this player partnership, A’s corporate partner PG&E signed on to match all of Kemp’s tree donations, helping to increase the impact of this program.

The Dave Stewart Community Service Award was established in 1996 in honor of Stewart’s many years of community service in the Bay Area. Throughout the years, Stewart has been involved in many nonprofit organizations, including the Oakland Boys & Girls Clubs and Team-Up for Youth, a program that supports healthy development for young people living in low-income communities through after-school sports and physical activity programs.

Previous winners of the Dave Stewart Community Service Award include: Ernie Young (1996), Scott Spiezio (1997), Tom Candiotti (1998), Art Howe (1999), Jason Giambi (2000), Terrence Long (2001), Tim Hudson (2002), Scott Hatteberg (2003), Eric Chavez (2004), Barry Zito (2005), Mark Kotsay (2006), Mark Ellis (2007), Dana Eveland (2008), Dallas Braden and Kurt Suzuki (2009), Craig Breslow (2010), Josh Willingham (2011), Jonny Gomes (2012), Sean Doolittle (2013), Jed Lowrie (2014), Stephen Vogt (2015, 2016), Liam Hendriks (2017), Chad Pinder (2018), Liam Hendriks (2019), and Tony Kemp (2020).