Service in action: The Major league
baseball players trust - volunteers of america action team national youth volunteer
program
What can you do to help in your community? Get ideas and inspiration from the service activities of the Players Trust and Volunteers of America Action Team. This school year, there were teams in 16 locations around the country. Each Action Team is supported by Major League baseball players who are also personally committed to volunteerism. (Learn more from Texas Rangers player Jason Jennings in Major Leaguers in Action.)
From helping with food and clothing drives, to collecting teddy bears to comfort children, to setting up a library for a housing complex and more, Action Team Captains and their fellow teen volunteers have made a difference in their communities and in the lives of thousands of children and adults. Congratulations on these projects well done!
| Action Team Location |
2007-2008 Action Team Projects |
Project Outcome |
Boston Action Team |
* “Caring Gifts” holiday campaign, which ran for 4 weeks, gathered donations
for clients of 3 Volunteers of America residential homes serving mainly
men and boys who are recovering addicts, at-risk youth, or others receiving
counseling and health services. Action Teams from Boston Latin School
and Boston College High collected tooth brushes, toothpaste, razors,
lotion, mouthwash; and donations of new undershirts, socks, and underwear;
plus gently used sweatshirts, jeans, t-shirts, slacks, sweaters, and
shirts. |
100 people served |
Cincinnati Action Team |
*Organized and led a large community cleanup that includes a 65-acre park and
river shoreline
* Participated in orientation program to prepare as volunteers with players Eddie
Guardado, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Javier Valentin of the Cincinnati Reds
(Fall 2007) |
100 people served |
Dallas/Ft. Worth Action Team |
* Organized food and clothing drive
* Volunteered at a VOA holiday party for the disabled
* Participated in orientation program to prepare as volunteers with players Michael Young and Brad Wilkerson of the Texas Rangers (Fall 2007) |
25 people served
45 people served
|
| Denver Action Team |
* Trained in cooperation with the Volunteers of America Colorado Youth Mentor program to be positive role models as reading mentors for Head Start children |
16 Head Start
children served |
| * Set up a literacy event at a local library for over 200 low-income Denver preschoolers; each child received a new book to take home |
|
| * Worked at the Rainbow House, a daycare center for children with special needs, helping to rebuild the playground surface |
200 children served |
| * Painted rooms at the Volunteers of America motel for the homeless, providing an opportunity to learn more about homelessness in Denver |
20 children served |
| * Assembled 200 gift bags for the Foster Grandparent Holiday Party |
100 people served |
| * Participated in orientation program to prepare as volunteers with players Jamey Carroll, LaTroy Hawkins, and Cory Sullivan of the Colorado Rockies (Fall 2007) |
200 people served |
| Detroit Action Team |
* Participated in the Adopt-a- Resident program for Volunteers of America clients, families and at-risk youth (all 6 Detroit Action Team schools were involved) |
9,000 people served |
| * Read to inner-city children at Detroit libraries |
40 children served |
| * Volunteered weekly at VOA administrative offices |
100 people served |
| * Participated in orientation program to prepare as volunteers with players Curtis Granderson and Nate Robertson of the Detroit Tigers (Fall 2007) |
|
| Houston Action Team |
* Assisted with the holiday party at the VOA McGovern Campus, a residential treatment facility for women, by helping with party decorations, setting up, and serving |
About 85 residents, their children, and family members |
| * Assisted in the VOA booth at the Children’s Health Fair Initiative at Reliant Arena, distributing information on VOA prevention programs and doing craft projects with children at the booth |
Over 1,500 families who attended the fair |
| * Participated in orientation program to prepare as volunteers with players Jason Jennings, Hunter Pence, and Chris Sampson of the Houston Astros (Fall 2007) |
|
| Indianapolis Action
Team |
* Volunteered at a Halloween party at the Volunteers of America center
* Participated in orientation program to prepare as volunteers with players Eddie Guardado, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Javier Valentin of the Cincinnati Reds (Fall 2007) |
30 people served |
Minneapolis/
St. Paul Action Team |
* Participated in Operation Backpack to raise funds for new school supplies and backpacks for children in need
* Participated in orientation program to prepare as volunteers |
Number served to be determined |
| Mobile,
Alabama, Action Team |
* Helped put on holiday party with local college students |
40 people served |
* Helped pack 500 food boxes for VOA families in need
* Participated in orientation program to prepare as volunteers with player Jake Peavy |
200 people served |
| New York City Action Team |
*Organized a holiday party and caroling for senior citizens at Mary Manning Walsh Senior Center by decorating a tree, singing carols with the residents, and providing refreshments |
200 people served |
| *Organized a valentine party for senior citizens at Mary Manning Walsh Senior Center. Students purchased refreshments, decorated valentine cookies, made cards and decorations, and provided music and signing for entertainment |
about 200 people served |
*Participated in orientation program to prepare as volunteers with player Carlos Delgado of the New York Mets (Fall 2007)
*Ongoing and upcoming projects:
-- Action Team leading school-wide glove, hat, and scarf drive for a shelter in Queens
-- Operation Backpack (February to June): Action Team schools collecting school supplies and new backpacks, with an in-school Sort Day in June
-- Operation Clean Up at Flushing Meadows Park on May 24: Action Team schools will clean up and beautify a community park, with a picnic open to family and friends
-- Reading Community: Action Team students will volunteer weekly in May and
June to read to kids in after-school programs and shelters
|
|
| Oakland
San Francisco Action Team |
* Sorted 5,000 books for several agencies; books go to children whose educations have been impacted by homelessness, incarceration, or other trauma |
1,000 working families with children |
| * Collected 50 pounds of canned food for Operation Good Neighbor |
50 elderly and others with low or fixed incomes |
| * Helped set up of a library at the VOA Lord Tennyson Housing Complex in Hayward, California; Action Team Captains volunteer from 4 PM to 8 PM and on two Saturdays each month to catalog, index, shelf, help run the library and serve as librarians |
100 children (grades K-5) and parents residents of low-income housing complex |
| * Sorted 1,000 books for two agencies; the Action Team College Liaison also recruited 10 college students from the Alpha Phi Omega Chapter at Cal State University-East Bay to help with this project |
500 children (grades K-5) in foster care or from low-income families |
| * Participated in the Reach Community Service Fair to recruit volunteers for six projects for Volunteers of America Bay Area. |
200 high school students |
* Prepared food boxes for VOA Bay Area Operation Good Neighbor food distribution for 20 community based social service organizations;
3 Action Team Captains served as lead volunteers on the Operation Good Neighbor 12-member Volunteer Planning Committee |
3,000 elderly and others in need with low or fixed incomes |
| * Participated in the City of Oakland Toy Drive by sorting books to give to children; VOA Bay Area delivered toys for drive |
50 working families with children |
| * Participated in orientation program to prepare as volunteers with players Huston Street and Mark Kotsay of the Oakland A’s and players Rich Aurilia and Randy Winn of the San Francisco Giants (Fall 2007) |
|
| Philadelphia Action Team |
* Participated in Operation Blessing Project (Volunteers of America gathers wish lists from families in need) – Action Team members raised funds for the project; purchased needed food, clothing, and toys; and ran the event at their school (clubs, sports teams, and Honor Society and Key Club all involved in the project) |
100 people served |
| * Participated in orientation program to prepare as volunteers with players Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, JC Romero, and Shane Victorino of the Philadelphia Phillies (Fall 2007) |
|
Portland, Maine
Action Team
|
* Hosted residents of the VOA Paul Hazelton House for an evening of theater at the school (Thornton Academy) |
12 people served |
| * Collected over 300 teddy bears and Beanie Babies (by York High School) for VOA programs; Beanie Babies go to campers at Camp POSTCARD, and the other bears (and animals) go to children and families in VOA programs, for waiting rooms in VOA buildings, to comfort children in domestic violence situations |
300 children served |
| * Held a Senior Citizens Fall Clean-Up Day; teams of volunteers (from Scarborough High School) raked and filled over 400 leaf bags; ACE Hardware donated 100 leaf bags and Scarborough Public Works Dept. helped pick up the bags |
22 senior citizens had their lawns raked; over 400 bags of leaves collected |
| * Participated in orientation program to prepare as volunteers with players Alex Cora, David Ortiz and Jason Varitek of the Boston Rex Sox (Fall 2007) |
|
Seattle Action Team |
* Collected 59,000 items for school-wide food drive; students purchased the needed food, ran the event at school, delivered the food to the families; and also raised $20,000 in supplies and donations |
150 families, including 400 children |
| * Helped organize a school-wide blood drive |
100 people served |
| * Worked with Family and Children’s Service of VOA Western Washington on “Stuff a Bus” project to collect toys and gifts for children; Snohomish County Community Transit lent VOA buses on three Saturdays, which were then parked at the main entrance of area malls for collection of donated toys and gifts |
300 children served |
| * Worked with VOA at the Sky Valley Community Resource Center in the annual Giving Tree program |
99 families served, including 283 children 0-18 |
| * Participated in orientation program to prepare as volunteers |
|
Washington, DC
Action Team |
* Decorated the homeless shelter at the VOA Residential Program Center |
44 shelter
residents served |
| * Hosted a holiday thank-you party for Service Source volunteers (developmentally disabled adult volunteers who clean twice weekly) |
18 people served |
| * Participated in orientation program to prepare as volunteers with players Chad Cordero, Felipe Lopez, and Brian Schneider of the Washington Nationals (Fall 2007) |
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