News
A's committed to efforts in Bay Area
Club's diverse work ranges from tutoring to holiday parties
By Mychael Urban / MLB.com
11/25/09 4:28 PM EST
OAKLAND -- Although they generated a modicum of excitement about their future by putting together a solid second half to the 2009 season, the A's weren't quite as successful as they'd hoped to be on the field overall.
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Off the field, however, the organization's typically diverse altruistic work was a wild success, as more than 1,500 charitable organizations in the Bay Area benefited from the club's commitment to the community.
Long a pillar of charity work in the Bay Area and beyond, the Oakland A's Community Fund provided approximately $650,000 in monetary contributions and donated auction items and tickets this year in its efforts to improve the quality of life for people throughout the region.
Specifically, the A's sought to fund endeavors to improve educational programs, aid the underprivileged, assist in crime and drug prevention, promote health awareness, and champion children and senior welfare.
"It is the mission of the A's Community Fund to support charitable organizations that seek to improve the quality of life for people in the Bay Area," said Detra Paige, the club's director of community relations. "With a special emphasis on the local youth, the combined endeavors of A's players and coaches, together with fans and sponsors, can make a meaningful impact that will last a lifetime."
One of the season's charity highlights came on Sept. 5, when the A's raised $75,690 on Breast Cancer Awareness Day at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, with proceeds benefiting the American Cancer Society, Northern California Cancer Center and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. In addition, as a part of "A Gift of Faith" grant, the A's donated $5,000 to Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center in memory of the late Faith Fancher, longtime KTVU Channel 2 reporter.
On Aug. 6, the A's raised more than $25,000 at the 10th Annual MUG Root Beer Float Day, with proceeds benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Over the past 11 years, the A's Breast Cancer Awareness Day has raised more than $1,075,000 for breast cancer education and research. Since 2003, the A's have raised over $270,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation through MUG Root Beer Float Day.
"Each season, the A's host unique events ... to raise funds for research and education, whether it be for breast cancer, juvenile diabetes or autism," Paige said. "The club is committed to a cure."
The A's remained committed to providing educational opportunities for Bay Area children as well.
More than 20,000 students in 100 local schools participated in the A's "Home Run Readers" program during the 2008-09 school year. Seventy-eight schools reached their goals, and 20 schools received a visit from a member of the A's front office and the A's mascot, Stomper.
Six of those schools received a visit from an A's player or coach to congratulate the students on reaching their goals and to encourage them to continue reading outside of the classroom. The program concluded with A's Home Run Readers Day, May 27, at the Coliseum.
The A's also designed and distributed more than 22,000 "Mathletics" workbooks, which utilize simple formulas for calculating statistics of A's players, to students in an effort to stress the importance of math among Bay Area youth. Both workbooks were also available online at oaklandathletics.com.
Students who completed their workbooks correctly and submitted the answer sheet to the A's received two ticket vouchers. In addition, one school which demonstrated outstanding participation in the program received a visit from an A's player.
Since the program's inception in 2003, more than 170,000 Bay Area and Northern California students -- in first through eighth grades -- have participated.
Before selected A's home games, volunteers offered tutoring at the Coliseum for at-risk students as a part of the Green Stampede Homework Club. Students who attend the study group were rewarded with tickets to that night's game, and if the student attended all eight study groups, they received a visit from an A's player.
The A's Amigos program gave Hispanic children the opportunity to hear an A's player speak about the importance of education, sportsmanship and hard work. In addition to the pregame visit, each child received a game ticket and an A's hat.
"The A's feel that education is extremely important in our local schools, and that is why we focus on reading and arithmetic in our Home Run Readers and 'Mathletics' programs," Paige said. "We understand the challenges teachers face in motivating their students to read or do math, both inside and outside the classroom, so we put a rewards system together for these programs, such as tickets to a game or a visit by players such as Kurt Suzuki, Rajai Davis or Cliff Pennington."
Opening Night starter Dallas Braden, second baseman Mark Ellis and relievers Brad Ziegler and Craig Breslow also provided examples of the players' willingness to get involved in charitable works on their own.
"A's players showed their commitment to giving back by becoming involved in events close to their heart," Paige said. "We saw this through Suzuki's fundraising for friend Jon Wilhite, Dallas Braden's commitment to his city of Stockton ... and Craig Breslow's dedication to raising funds and awareness for childhood cancer by working with Children's Hospital Oakland during the season and raising $85,000 at his own foundation's fundraiser."
With the help of A's fans and the Community Fund, Suzuki and his wife, Renee, raised more than $61,000 for the "Jon Wilhite Recovery Fund" this season. The Fund was set up to assist Suzuki's good friend and former teammate from Cal State Fullerton, Jon Wilhite, who was the lone survivor of the April 9 crash that took the lives of Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others.
Braden, intensely devoted to his hometown of Stockton, Calif., sponsored two brothers being raised by a single mother -- he paid for all costs associated with them playing Little League baseball in Stockton and hosted the entire league for a game in Oakland -- in the inaugural year of a program through which he'll annually assist families in similar circumstances.
Ellis and Zeigler helped push the total of donated A's tickets to 2,000, with local charities and nonprofit agencies such as Big Brothers, Big Sisters of the East Bay, Boys & Girls Club of Oakland and Operation One Family among the recipients.
The Oakland A's Community Fund Golf Classic, staged at Castlewood Country Club in Pleasanton, Calif., on June 25, raised more than $150,000 for the A's Community Fund through the tournament and silent and live auctions.
Also, the team raised $130,000 for the family trust funds of the four Oakland Police officers, Sgts. Mark Dunakin, Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai and Officer John Hege, who were killed in the line of duty on March 21, 2009. Funds were raised through A's fan and player donations, the A's Silent Auction and a special law enforcement ticket offer, plus a matching donation by A's owner Lew Wolff and principal partner John Fisher.
Several other programs raised money for various charities, and the A's aren't done for the year just yet.
During the first week of December, Davis and Ziegler will participate in the Walnut Creek and San Jose holiday parades and host an autograph session at Stoneridge Mall. They also will host a holiday shop-a-long with Oakland children at the mall on Dec. 5; 10 children from the Henry Robinson Multi-Service Center in Oakland will receive a $200 gift card for themselves and a $50 gift card to purchase a gift for someone else.
On Dec. 11, the A's will hold their annual holiday party at the Oakland Zoo, with a Civicorp Academy charter school, featuring games, activities, Round Table pizza and a meet and greet with Vida Blue and pitching prospect Tyson Ross for 200 students.
"The A's organization," Paige said, "is a proud, reliable and dedicated member of its community."
Mychael Urban is a national writer for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
