Promoting Service-Learning through New PSA
Contacts:
Greg Bouris, Major League Baseball Players Association
(212) 826-0808 or gbouris@mlbpa.org
David Burch, Volunteers of America
(703) 341-5054 or dburch@voa.org
LaTroy Hawkins, Craig Kimbrel and high school students join forces to encourage youth volunteerism
NEW YORK, NY, May 16, 2013 – Volunteers of America and Major League baseball players have teamed up to inspire the next generation of volunteers by launching a new radio and TV public service announcement campaign, titled “Teammates.”
The PSA campaign was created to encourage students, teachers and administrators to volunteer through the high school-based Action Team national youth volunteer program, administered by the Major League Baseball Players Trust and Volunteers of America. PSAs were recorded in January 2013, when LaTroy Hawkins (New York Mets) and Craig Kimbrel (Atlanta Braves) were joined by more than 100 high school students from the Dallas/Ft. Worth and Houston areas – most of them Action Team members.
The campaign demonstrates that high school students can have a profound impact in their communities when they become “teammates” as part of the Action Team. The PSA also demonstrates the continuing growth and popularity of this unique program. The Action Team was launched in Denver in 2003, and to date, Action Teams of high school students and Major Leaguers have inspired more than 64,000 students to serve over 204,000 people in need.
This school-year, Major Leaguers and more than 900 Action Team Captains in 130 high schools across the country are working together to inspire and train the next generation of volunteers. There are Action Teams in 34 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and Japan. Each month, Action Team Captains participate in a conference call hosted by legendary broadcaster George Grande featuring a Major Leaguer and an “Action Team High School of the Month.”
Action Team Captains also receive free posters, DVDs, T-shirts and brochures to help support their efforts. They are invited to attend Action Team training sessions at the beginning of the school year and receive free tickets to Major League baseball games as well as certificates of achievement signed by Major Leaguers near the end of the school year. The Players Trust annually awards $40,000 in college scholarships to recognize the efforts of Action Team Captains – those students responsible for planning and organizing volunteer activities that help mobilize their peers to get involved.
Watch the 30 second “Are You In?” PSA
For more information, please visit www.ActionTeam.org and to request copies of the PSAs, please e-mail the Action Team at ActionTeam@mlbpa.org.
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About Volunteers of America
Volunteers of America is a national, nonprofit, faith-based organization dedicated to helping those in need live healthy, safe and productive lives. Since 1896, our ministry of service has supported and empowered America's most vulnerable groups, including seniors, people with disabilities, at-risk youth, men and women returning from prison, homeless individuals and families, those recovering from addictions and many others. Through hundreds of human service programs, including housing and health care, Volunteers of America helps more than 2 million people in over 400 communities. We offer a variety of services for older Americans, in particular, that allow them to maintain their independence and quality of life – everything from an occasional helping hand to full-time care. Our work touches the mind, body, heart and ultimately the spirit of those we serve, integrating our deep compassion with highly effective programs and services.
About the Major League Baseball Players Trust
The members of the Major League Baseball Players Association created the Players Trust, a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation, to provide resources of caring to those in need by volunteering in causes close to their hearts and encouraging others to do the same. The foundation became the first of its kind in professional sports established and administered by the players. For additional information, please visit www.MLBPLAYERS.com and visit the Players Trust channel on YouTube.