Charitable Efforts

GAME-DAY STAFF

More than 33 million Americans and 5 million Canadians have lost their jobs since mid-March, including thousands of hourly employees whose livelihoods are dependent on fans attending events at sports venues. Almost immediately after the venues’ doors closed, team owners and league executives began letting these employees know that their paychecks would be covered, even if for just a while. But there were many people outside ownership ranks who also stepped up, recognizing the potential hardships that these individuals were about to face.

■ Blake Griffin (Detroit Pistons), George Springer (Houston Astros), Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks), Kevin Love (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Sergei Bobrovsky (Florida Panthers) each donated $100,000 to help cover payroll expenses for the game-day staffs of their team’s venue. Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans) and Tad Brown (Houston Rockets); St. Louis Blues season-ticket holder Andy Frisella along with team captain Alex Pietrangelo and local donors each made similar pledges, but those monetary values are unknown.

■ CBS Sports and Turner Sports paid all of the technicians, utilities workers and freelancers contracted to work the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.

■ Shin-Soo Choo (Texas Rangers) donated $1,000 to each of the team’s 190 minor league players.

■ MLB Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins donated all of the proceeds from his Cameo account during the last two weeks of March to the game-day staff at the Chicago Cubs spring training facility in Mesa, Ariz. Each video generated $60.

■ Trevor Bauer (Cincinnati Reds) has raised $25,762 through GoFundMe to help pay  game-day staff of Great American Ballpark.

FOOD BANKS AND DELIVERY SERVICES

Venue operators and concessionaires donated tons of perishable items to food banks, school programs, homeless shelters and nursing homes in the days following the shutdown. But cleaning out the pantries was just the beginning.

■ MLB donated $30 million — $1 million per team — to Feeding America and Meals on Wheels. The Denver Broncos funded 100,000 meals to the Food Bank of the Rockies and AMB (Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United) donated 3½ tons of food to six nonprofit groups in Atlanta.

■ Dozens of athletes funded meals, delivered food and worked with food banks. Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks) and his wife, singer Ciara, for example, donated one million meals to Seattle’s Food Lifeline. Others who donated to local food banks included: Alex Bregman (Houston Astros); Baker Mayfield (Cleveland Browns) and his wife, Emily; Brandon McManus (Denver Broncos); Freddie Freeman (Atlanta Braves); J.J. Watt (Houston Texans) and his wife Kealia Ohai (NWSL Chicago Red Stars); Jason Heyward (Chicago Cubs); Larry Ogunjobi (Cleveland Browns); Tyreek Hill (Kansas City Chiefs); Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers).

■ Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (owners of Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC, Scotiabank Arena), Rogers Communications (owner of the Toronto Blue Jays and Rogers Centre), BMO, Bell Canada, Scotiabank and Tangerine Bank joined with Mackie Movers, Pinnacle Caterers, Nestle Canada, McCormick Canada, Smucker’s and Diageo to turn Scotiabank Arena and BMO Field into giant kitchens. Approximately 25 chefs and 75 support staff assemble up to 13,000 meals daily at the two venues. The meals are delivered to hospitals and area nonprofits.

■ The DeVos family, owners of the Orlando Magic and the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears, contributed $50,000. The Magic’s longtime partner, Papa John’s, is donating 25% of each online order it receives from April 21-May 20 to Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.

■ Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay told the city’s residents that if they raised $200,000 for Gleaners Food Bank he’d pitch in $1 million. The challenge was met in less than 24 hours. The Class AAA Indianapolis Indians also donated $20,000.

■ NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin teamed up with sponsor FedEx to donate 60,000 meals to the food bank in his hometown of Chesterfield, Va. Then he pledged $100 for each lap led in the iRacing Pro Series Invitational race at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway and $5,000 for winning the race in a donation through The NASCAR Foundation and Feed the Children to benefit families in the Homestead-Miami area. He led 14 laps and won the race, and more than $40,000 was raised after sponsor Coca-Cola and fans matched his pledge.

■ Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) and his wife, Ayesha, took to YouTube to solicit donations to feed students in the Oakland public school system who were losing out on their school-provided meal plans.

■ Former NBA player Jon Leuer and his wife, Keegan, partnered with Crisp & Green and Meals on Wheels to help deliver 3,200 meals to homebound and home health providers in his native Minnesota.

■ La Liga North America, Uninterrupted and the Women’s International Champions Cup brought together athletes from the NBA, NFL, La Liga and NWSL to compete in the Kick Covid FIFA20 tournament, which raised $10,191 for Feeding America.

■ The Class A Hillsboro (Ore.) Hops donated their supply of 2,000 team shop plastic bags to Meals on Wheels, so they are able to continue delivering meals to the community while following social distancing guidelines.

HEALTH CARE AND FIRST RESPONDERS

They can’t work from home. And at work they often don’t have what they need to do their jobs. The sports world has rallied around the health care workers and first responders like never before.

■ The New York Giants funded a new program at the Meadowlands YMCA to provide free child care for emergency response personnel.

■ ESPN’s Keith Olbermann donated two ventilators to Elmhurst Hospital in Queens.

■ New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft paid $2 million and loaned the state of Massachusetts his team’s plane to fly to China and back to get 1.2 million N95 masks.

■ The Minnesota Twins teamed with regional companies Love Your Melon and Faribault Woolen Mill Co. to convert the 25,000 Homer Hankies remaining from last season’s ALDS into face coverings and donated them to health care systems, grocery workers and other nonprofits. Each hanky was made into five masks.

■ The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame & Museum has contributed more than $200,000 to the American Hospital Association’s 100 Million Mask Challenge through the sale of some nontraditional bobbleheads. Since the museum began taking orders on April 9, nearly 40,000 bobbleheads honoring Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Deborah Birx, Dr. Amy Acton, several governors and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot have been sold.

■ Giancarlo Stanton (New York Yankees) donated 15,000 face shields to hospitals in Southern California, where he grew up, and in New York.

■ Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde and Mike Elias, executive vice president and general manager, donated enough Chick-fil-A to feed the entire staff at Baltimore’s MedStar Harbor Hospital.

■ The ATP Tour’s Truist Atlanta Open teamed up with GF Sports, Cigna and the Waffle House food truck to feed health care workers at the Northside Hospital Cherokee in suburban Canton, Ga.

■ The Class A Charleston (S.C.) RiverDogs co-host a drive-thru lunch program that delivers 100 free meals each week to COVID-19 responders.

■ UFC fighter Dustin Poirier and sponsor Deano’s Pizza provided 1,000 meals to medical staff in his hometown of Lafayette, La., on Easter Sunday.

■ The Class A Bradenton (Fla.) Marauders donated 400 pizzas from local businesses to health care workers at Blake Medical Center and Manatee Memorial Hospital.

■ Others that provided meals to health care providers in their area: NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski partnered with Atrium Health Cabarrus and Mr. C’s restaurant; Daytona International Speedway provided more than 700 free lunches; Garnet Hathaway (Washington Capitals) provided 2,700 meals.

■ The Class A Fayetteville (N.C.) Woodpeckers purchased 500 meals for Cape Fear Valley Health employees.

■ MLS sponsor Captain Morgan donated $500,000 to local team charities supporting first responders, health care workers and others affected by the pandemic. The rum brand also will donate $25 per participant (at least 21 years old) who shares an at-home nutmegging video on Instagram, tags Captain Morgan USA and includes #CaptainMorganDonation (up to $50,000).

■ Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves), whose mother died of complications from the coronavirus, donated $100,000 to the Mayo Clinic.

■ Steven Matz (New York Mets) donated $32,000 to New York City first responders and hospitals.

■ Sebastian Joseph-Day (Los Angeles Rams) donated $10,000 to feed 250 Cedars-Sinai (L.A.) Medical Center employees and their families.

HEALTH CARE EQUIPMENT

Several companies that make a living in sports have pivoted to provide equipment to health care workers.

■ Roush Yates Engines is working with BioMedInnovations and Equilibar to develop and produce specialized ventilators; 3M has teamed up with Ford, GE and UAW to do the same.

■ The NASCAR Research & Development Center is printing face shields, as is Kyle Busch Motorsports, Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing and Hendrick Motorsports.

■ The AHL Syracuse Crunch donated the team’s Sani Sport system that is normally used for disinfecting and sanitizing hockey equipment to Upstate Medical University.

■ Fanatics shifted its production of sports apparel to use the fabric for protective masks and hospital gowns.

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY WORKERS

More than 8 million restaurant employees, representing two-thirds of the industry, have been laid off or furloughed since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many of these workers depend on the spending of sports fans.

■ Civic Science, a Pittsburgh-based research company (and frequent data provider to Sports Business Journal) is providing 100% reimbursement to any of its employees who order lunch, coffee and/or tea for delivery or takeout from a local, independent restaurant.

■ Charleston, S.C.-based Dixie Vodka, one of NASCAR’s newest partners, is donating 10% of all online sales to the United States Bartenders’ Guild Foundation for the Bartenders Emergency Assistance Program. That percentage of online sales, and direct contributions to Feed the Children, totaled $12,250.

■ MLS’s Nashville SC set up the Grocery Box in partnership with Renasant Bank and Fat Bottom Brewery, two of the club’s official partners, to provide meals to displaced workers of the city’s music, food and service industry.

■ DoorDash donated $150,000 to the Mavs Foundation to assist those affected by COVID-19. Several teams support DoorDash’s #OpenForDelivery initiative, aimed to let people know restaurants are open.

EDUCATION

Sports organizations mobilized technology and lesson plans to assist parents and schools as the nation’s school districts and their students shifted to home schooling.

■ The NHL and NHLPA are providing free remote access to Hockey Scholar, the hockey-themed STEM curriculum for elementary and middle-school-age students, powered by EVERFI. The program consists of 12 learning modules that teachers and parents can access.

■ The Warriors Community Foundation and Hewlett Packard Enterprise made a $250,000 contribution to be split equally by the Oakland and San Francisco school districts. That includes a $100,000 personal contribution from Warriors coach Steve Kerr. Warriors Community Foundation President Nicole Lacob, via the Foundation, matched Kerr’s donation. The funds will be used to purchase more than 650 laptops and internet hotspots for Bay Area youth.

■ The NFL and several of its charitable partners have made digital education and wellness resources available for free for teachers, parents and students across the country.

■ Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment co-managing partners Josh Harris and David Blitzer, the New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia 76ers and Sixers Youth Foundation made a “six-figure donation” to the School District of Philadelphia to buy computers for distance learning for students.

■ University of Pittsburgh Athletic Director Heather Lyke, football coach Pat Narduzzi, men’s basketball coach Jeff Capel and women’s basketball coach Lance White donated a combined $500,000 to the university’s Center for Vaccine Research, which is working to create a vaccine for COVID-19. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Penguins and Pirates added $100,000 each.

OTHER CHARITABLE EFFORTS

More than $210 million has been pledged to the World Health Organization’s efforts, including support from Adidas, Nike and the NBA. The CDC Foundation has raised $48.6 million, including gifts from the NFLPA and NHL. Support has come in all shapes and sizes from every corner of the sports world. Here are a few that caught our eye.

■ 100 Thieves, an esports team co-founded by Cleveland Cavaliers’ owner Dan Gilbert, partnered with Lysol to give $228,000 to the CDC Foundation.

■ UFC fighter Conor McGregor has committed $1.1 million to the COVID-19 Heroes Fund via his foundation and his Proper No. Twelve Whiskey company. That total will rise, as 100% of the proceeds from the sale of Sportiqe One For All T-shirts at ProperWhiskey.com will go to the fund.

■ While NFL teams were making their draft picks last month, the league simultaneously held a fan “draft-a-thon” fundraiser that raised more than $100 million for multiple charities.

■ The Thunderbirds, nonprofit hosts of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, donated $1 million to multiple charities in the area.

■ In what was the first of several efforts, the NBA immediately pledged $50 million to go to multiple charities.

■ New Balance donated $2 million to Athletes for Relief, which is raising money for the Center for Disaster Philanthropy COVID-19 Response Fund.

■ The Class A Greenville (S.C.) Drive, a Boston Red Sox affiliate, has raised $3,000 for the United Way’s COVID-19 Relief Fund for Greenville County by selling a T-shirt that says “Safe at Home” with a home plate on the front. Red Sox affiliates in Salem, Va., and Portland, Maine, launched similar efforts.

■ Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz), the first athlete diagnosed with COVID-19, donated more than $500,000 to support the Vivint Smart Home Arena employee relief fund and social services in Utah, Oklahoma City and his native France.

■ Churchill Downs raised $2 million for COVID-19 relief efforts during its daylong, at-home Kentucky Derby party on May 2 that included a computer-simulated race featuring the last 13 Triple Crown winners that was won by Secretariat.

■ Anheuser-Busch said that “everyone could use a companion for the couch right now.” Anyone who fosters or adopts a dog from Midwest Animal Rescue in Minneapolis will receive three months worth of Busch beer.

■ Justin Verlander (Houston Astros) is donating each paycheck ($33,000 apiece) received during the shutdown to a different organization — such as Covenant House in New York, which provides and services for homeless youth.

■ NASCAR team owner Richard Childress is auctioning memorabilia and other items from his 50-plus years in racing to benefit national and local COVID-19 relief efforts, including an original No. 3 Chevrolet once raced by Dale Earnhardt, complete with the engine.

■ Rodolfo Pizarro, Lewis Morgan, Julián Carranza and Lee Nguyen (Inter Miami CF) participated in a FIFA 20 tournament as part of Twitch’s Stream Aid 2020, an event to benefit the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. A total of $2.8 million was raised.