In his unique position as a Major League player representing his local team, David Bednar¡¯s drive and desire to give back to the city of Pittsburgh is the embodiment of the legacy left by the region¡¯s most revered athlete and humanitarian, Roberto Clemente.

Whether it¡¯s during the season or in the offseason, an event at the ballpark or at a school in a suburb far from his home, David is there, and he¡¯s there with a smile. For the third consecutive season, David has been a major presence at various community events for the Pirates and its 501(c)(3), Pirates Charities. As players settled into the offseason and returned to their hometowns, scattered across the globe, David continued to dedicate his time off to giving back to the community during the cold winter months.

Together with hospital partner Allegheny Health Network (AHN), the Pirates announced and launched Chill Mobile in October 2022. Chill Mobile is a retrofitted RV which offers students across the Pittsburgh region a calming space where they can learn evidence-based coping skills and participate in practical and interactive experiences, with the goal of not only improving individual mental health, but of extending the conversation into the larger community and reducing the stigma surrounding mental health and wellness. David has been a staple for the program since its inception, and once again, took time during the offseason to attend various Chill Mobile assemblies at schools across the Pittsburgh region.

His powerful message for students about how he copes in the stressful situations he faces as a closer in the Majors, coupled with the very important message that ¡°it¡¯s OK to not be OK,¡± has made David a role model for students to understand that everyone feels anxious, stressed and overwhelmed sometimes. He has helped the Pirates and AHN continue their work on reducing the stigma around mental health for the more than 12,000 students and 1,000 school staff and faculty the program has engaged over the last two years. Chill Mobile is gearing up for its third academic year, which kicked off in September, and David will be featured in a new video that will be played for students during their first visit to the Chill Mobile RV.

This past November, David joined the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and Pirates community team for a Thanksgiving dinner distribution event alongside players and alumni from the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Penguins to load meals, gift cards and goodies into families¡¯ cars who arrived from all parts of the area. The event ensured more than 300 local families were able to celebrate the holiday with a proper meal during challenging economic times that continue to plague so many. Additionally, David helped to lead a donation effort of more than 500 boxes of stuffing for Light of Life Rescue Mission, a Pittsburgh-area homeless shelter, in support of their efforts to feed the homeless a full Thanksgiving dinner.

Support for local Miracle League organizations is a cornerstone of the community work done by the Pirates and Pirates Charities, and 2024 marks 16 years of Miracle League presence in Western Pennsylvania. The Pirates and Pirates Charities once again celebrated this support by hosting a Miracle League Fantasy Camp in the Pirates¡¯ Spring Training home of Bradenton, Fla., with the Miracle League of Manasota County in February. David was among the more than 20 uniformed staff who supported the event, taking time to engage with the Miracle League athletes in attendance and provide them with a once-in-a-lifetime clinic experience. David led the charge handing out medals to participants, signing autographs and helping these special athletes focus on what they can do, rather than what they can¡¯t.

Above all of this engagement and support, the cornerstone of David¡¯s philanthropy work over the last year has been with a local pediatric cancer organization, Lending Hearts. David was honored at the Lending Hearts annual gala in February and was named the 2024 Lending Hearts Friend Award winner. He and his family were joined by 8-year-old Kennedy who was battling B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (B-ALL) as the honorees of the evening. David and Kennedy stole the show with their immediate bond, and Kennedy¡¯s family announced that her final treatment would be Feb. 29, when she would have the chance to ¡°ring the bell,¡± signifying she would be cancer-free.

David sent Kennedy a special message on that important day from Spring Training, alongside teammate Connor Joe -- a cancer survivor himself -- and then hosted Kennedy and her family at PNC Park on July 2 where she was celebrated by the large crowd in attendance and threw out the game¡¯s first pitch to David.

Additionally, David took his work on the road this year and brought a little bit of the love he has for Pittsburghers to a handful of cities the team traveled to by connecting with pediatric cancer patients and their families in three other cities: Philadelphia, Chicago and Cincinnati. In each city, he provided the group with a special pregame experience on the field, custom Pirates jersey and plenty of pictures and autographs.

David also hosted a clinic at PNC Park in June for local pediatric cancer patients served by Lending Hearts and their siblings for a unique on-field experience, providing them all with a day full of smiles and a moment to forget the tough battles they¡¯re facing currently.

In addition to the various community events David has been a part of, he has also been dedicated to helping to fulfill various meet and greets and signing hundreds of items for the Pirates Charities team to use for various fundraising efforts and in-kind donations to support hundreds of local nonprofit organizations.