This story was excerpted from Steve Gilbert’s D-backs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
How does one tell the story or measure the impact of the work the Diamondbacks organization does in the community?
There are cold, hard numbers -- the D-backs are at around $93 million in charitable giving since their inaugural 1998 season and will cross the $100 million mark in 2025.
But it's the stories about the lives that have been changed by all that giving that truly tell the tale.
Take the example of a 10-year-old boy named Moise.
Moise was a refugee from Uganda, who came to his first baseball game in 2024 as a guest of the Diamondbacks.
Shortstop Geraldo Perdomo saw Moise sitting in the first row by the home on-deck circle next to Debbie Castaldo, the D-backs’ senior vice president of corporate and community impact, and just knew that Moise wasn't a typical fan.
So Perdomo walked over and touched hands with Moise through the netting, introducing himself.
"He looks like me!" Moise said to Castaldo.
Perdomo visited with Moise after the game and invited him back to the ballpark for lunch the next week. After lunch, Perdomo took Moise onto the field to teach him how to play baseball.
"This little boy, who was dealing with a whole lot of very difficult things in that moment, found baseball and found a role model and found someone who looks like him that he could believe in," Castaldo said. "Now he walks around wearing a Perdomo jersey and Perdomo T-shirts that we've given to him.
“It's just who Perdomo is. He just has an absolute heart of gold, and he knows the impact he had on this little boy. And I think the little boy had an equally big impact on him."
Castaldo considers herself lucky to be working under an ownership group, led by managing general partner Ken Kendrick and team president/CEO Derrick Hall, that values having an impact in the community and is willing to put money and support behind it.
And she deals with a clubhouse full of players and staff who are willing to help out where they can.
There's right-hander Zac Gallen's passion to help the fight against hunger in Arizona, where an estimated one in six kids don't know where their next meal will come from.
Gallen, whose nickname is "The Milkman," teamed up with the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation, St. Mary's Food Bank and Shamrock Farms through his Zac Gallen 23 Charitable Fund to raise money to provide milk and meals for food-insecure children.
Gallen hosted events this year that raised $100,000 for St. Mary's.
"He's so smart and easy to work with," Castaldo said of Gallen. "He really digs in and wants to see real dollars go to work to create solutions for a complex problem like hunger, especially with children."
Another one of the Diamondbacks’ marquee players, outfielder Corbin Carroll, is known around the organization for volunteering for community events. His CC7 Charitable Fund helps fund programs that support children’s programs and projects dedicated to empowering, celebrating and inspiring kids to reach for the stars.
"Corbin's passion for children who are underserved is really amazing," Castaldo said. "His work with the D-backs Nike Jr. RBI Program with the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley is just one of the things he does. His donation of gear -- bats and gloves -- is so important because most of the kids don't have the best equipment to be able to compete with.
“He just is a very unique player when it comes to his passion for meeting children and young adults all the way through high school. He takes the time to look them in the eye and talk to them. Just a few minutes with him might give them just a moment of lift that they need. He's very rare with his dedication."
Manager Torey Lovullo helps set the tone for all of it with his Torey Lovullo Kindness Champions program, which works with Ben's Bells, Positive Coaching Alliance and the Diamondbacks Foundation to reward K-12 students for kind behavior.
Castaldo can list a number of other players who are involved in various projects, and she is thankful for their help.
In the spirit of being thankful, the D-backs recently posted on Instagram a thank you to fans. For every interaction the post receives through Tuesday, the team will donate $5 to Arizona food banks.