On Saturday, July 20th, Dodger employees joined hundreds of corporate and community volunteers to explore the heart of LA’s urban core for LA Work’s 3rd Annual Service Crawl. Dodger employees engaged in service and completed significant service projects at LAPD, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles and LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes. At each site, the Dodgers learned about the mission of the organizations and the services they provide to communities across Los Angeles. After providing valuable hands-on support to the organization, volunteers solved a clue to unlock the location of their next volunteer project.

L.A. Works is a nonprofit, volunteer action center that creates and implements hands-on community service projects throughout the greater Los Angeles area. They empower Angelenos to address pressing social issues through volunteerism and community collaborations. Tens of thousands of committed volunteers together with thousands of civic, nonprofit and business partners have enabled L.A. Works to make a significant, visible and lasting contribution to Los Angeles. http://www.laworks.com

Jacob Landis, a cochlear implant (CI) recipient, spent his summer riding across the country visiting major league stadiums in a quest to raise $200,000 for various non-profit organizations that provide chchlear implants to children in need. On July 14, Jacob’s Ride brought him to Dodger Stadium where he visited with pitcher Chris Capuano and his wife Sarah before the game. Sarah’s mother works for the Jean Weingarten Peninsula Oral School for the Deaf in northern California where most children have cochlear implants.

Adrian Gonzalez’s Viva Los Dodgers hosted families from Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE), an organization whose mission is to connect families, schools and community as partners to advance the education of every child through parent engagement. Their vision is to create a community in which parents and educators collaborate to transform every child’s educational environment, both at home and at school, so that all children can achieve their greatest academic potential. Jose Collazo, a parent and community leader with PIQE was recognized at Viva Los Dodgers as the Dodgers Heroe de la Comunidad.

On July 13, after the game, the Dodgers hosted a screening of the movie “42.” All fans with tickets to that game were invited to stay to enjoy the movie on the new high definition video boards. Through the Commissioner’s Community Initiative, the Dodgers donated almost 800 tickets to various community organizations so that youth and families who might not otherwise be able to attend a game or a movie would have the opportunity. “42” depicts the true story of an American legend and Hall of Fame Dodger Jackie Robinson, who was the first African-American to play Major League Baseball. The movie focuses on his life immediately leading up to, and during his first season, 1947.

Eleanor Wigley, 98, was born in Nebraska and moved to Los Angeles at a young age. She graduated from Fairfax High School and worked for the phone company for more than 20 years. Eleanor and her husband purhcased a home in Arcadia near the Arboretum in 1950 and lived there until he passed away in 1978. She still lives in Arcadia today. Eleanor has attended Dodger games for many years beginning at the Coliseum.

She was brought to the Friday, July 12 game, as a complete surprise, by her son Phil, daughter-in-law Ina, grandson Duncan and great-grandson Blake. Even more surprising for her was being taken down to the field where she met Ron Cey, Maury Wills and her favorite Dodger, Andre Ethier.

On June 29, Matt Kemp hosted 22 youth baseball players ages 9 to 12 from the Venice Boys & Girls Club through his Kemp’s Kids program. Kemp’s Kids was established by and is fully sponsored by Kemp to provide underprivileged and inner-city youth with opportunities to visit and experience Dodger Stadium. Kemp’s Kids is also dedicated to elevating and increasing the relevance of Major League Baseball and participation of youth baseball among inner-city youth in the greater Los Angeles area.
Each youngster receives a Kemp’s Kids T-Shirt, a gift bag that includes a Nike backpack, Power Balance bands, Nike batting gloves and Big League Chew, a Loge Level game ticket and $25 in Dodger dollars to purchase food and beverages. The youth were on hand for batting practice to meet Matt Kemp, take photos and get autographs from the Dodger center fielder.

On June 9, the Dodgers hosted the annual MLB Pitch Hit & Run Team Championship competition where the top 12 boy and girl qualifiers from Southern California and Hawaii competed on the field at Dodger Stadium. MLB Pitch, Hit & Run is a free, exciting skills event for boys and girls ages 7-14 where participants have the opportunity to compete in four levels of competition including Team Championship events at all 30 Major League ballparks and the National Finals at the MLB All-Star Game.

The Dodgers congratulate and will be cheering for Jaden Lyburtus of Guadalupe, CA , one of three 11/12 year old boys national finalists who will compete in New York before the All-Star Game. For information about hosting a local competition go to www.mlb.com/phr.

On June 25, Dodger outfielder Andre Ethier visited the Union Rescue Mission in the skid row area of Los Angeles. This was Andre’s 6th year visiting the Mission and serving meals to many men, women and children who utilize the services of the Union Rescue Mission. Through his partnership with Farmer John, Andre and Farmer John have donated more than 500,000 pounds of product over the last few years to help Union Rescue Mission with their meal services.

Andre has also served food to the homeless at the Weingart Center Los Angeles. Andre has been active in the Los Angeles community since joining the club in 2006, having made annual visits to the Union Rescue Mission, partaking in several Make-A-Wish Foundation projects, hosting several holiday shopping sprees for underserved youth and donating his time on countless hospital visits, caravan appearances and autograph sessions for Dodger fans throughout Southern California.

On June 8, the Los Angeles Dodgers participated in the Stephanie’s Day, an autism resource fair at the CBS Studios. Stephanie’s Day provides families with children impacted by autism and other special needs one place to gather valuable information on programs and services for special needs and fun family activities including trying out their throwing skills in the Dodgers pitching inflatable. Dodgers Blue Crew, Community Relations and Group Sales representatives were on hand to show their support and to promote Autism Awareness Day at Dodger Stadium coming up on August 14. For more information, visit dodgers.com/autismspeaks or for groups of 30 or more call Emily Nuckols at the Dodgers at 323-224-2642.