MLB teams with NY non-profit to commemorate Jackie Robinson Day

NEW YORK -- The name Jackie Robinson is synonymous with the values of teamwork, dedication and, above all else, selflessness. Each year on April 15, Major League Baseball and the entire baseball world join in commemorating Jackie Robinson Day, an annual celebration of the first Black Major League Baseball player, his illustrious career and the legacy he left behind.

MLB employees, through MLB Together and in partnership with the non-profit organization Henry Street Settlement, started the celebration with a volunteer opportunity at the Commissioner’s Office. Over 50 MLB employees from various departments took part in assembling 200 hygienic “shower kits” for New Yorkers in need.

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MLB Together, MLB’s social responsibility and community affairs platform, spearheaded the event. Amelia DeCeanne, senior coordinator of community affairs at MLB, and her team helped coordinate the volunteer effort.

“We all know Jackie Robinson as a great baseball player, but he was also just such a great humanitarian,” DeCeanne said. “And so for us as MLB Together to really celebrate that and be able to give back like he did … It's really an honor to be able to do that as Major League Baseball.”

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The volunteer event also marked the first partnership between MLB and the Henry Street Settlement.

Founded in 1893 by Lillian Wald, the Henry Street Settlement began as a service house providing education and social services to the Lower East Side community. Today, it offers a wide range of programs including social services, arts and healthcare.

“We're really excited to be partnering with someone new,” DeCeanne said. “It really aligns well with the spirit of Jackie Robinson Day and giving back to our neighbors and our community.”

That spirit of Jackie Robinson and Jackie Robinson Day is what Major League Baseball advocates for, particularly in its employees.

“I think volunteering allows us to feel a little bit better about the positive change that we want to see in the world,” said Austin Tucker, a senior data engineer and first-time volunteer. “Even if it's a little packaging of something like a shower kit, as long as we're adding some greater good to the world, I think we're doing well as individuals.”

Tucker also shared his own personal connection to Jackie Robinson Day and what it meant to take part in this volunteer opportunity.

“For me, as an African American, there's a lot of symbolism surrounding someone breaking the color barrier, specifically in baseball … and so, having an icon like this and being able to contribute to the betterment of society in his name … is something that I appreciate participating in and have enjoyed doing today.”

Erica Chung, director of partnerships in public policy at Henry Street Settlement, helped explain the significance of collaborating with MLB for the first time on Jackie Robinson Day.

“He was the one who opened doors of opportunity for people of color to enter professional baseball,” Chung said. “And I feel like because that resonates so strongly with our mission -- our mission is to open doors of opportunity -- that’s literally our mission statement.”

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Deanna Sorge, volunteer program manager at Henry Street Settlement further elaborated on why the non-profit chose to assign shower kits as the volunteer objective.

“This is important because the program just started to provide shower access to clients after identifying it as a really urgent need,” Sorge said. “We have traditional hygiene kits, but they do not offer everything an individual needs to shower.”

The kits contain basic hygiene products and toiletries necessary to properly care for oneself. They also include handwritten notes of encouragement and support from the volunteers.

“I read some of the cards and they were beautiful,” Sorge added. “The people from MLB who wrote cards, they were beautiful, really expressing their joy to these people.”

Once completed, Henry Street Settlement will take and distribute the kits via their “Connect Program,” which offers mental health services through community outreach and by tackling food insecurity and unstable housing, among other issues that contribute to mental health problems.

This is not only the first partnership between MLB and the Henry Street Settlement, but it also marks MLB as the first corporate partner to take part in any sort of “shower kit” packing initiative with the non-profit.

Events like these serve to further establish MLB’s role in the sports world as a leader in community service and outreach, values that Jackie Robinson carried with him every day.

“Everyone knows these days, time is money,” Chung said. “Employee time is more valuable than ever before in times like this, and for MLB to be able to carve out this time for a purpose like this, I think is really meaningful.”