Oh what fun we had in 2022!
UMPS CARE Charities had a lot to celebrate in a year filled with lots of smiles and plenty of joy.
Here’s a recap of the year we had just in case you missed anything:
January
UMPS CARE Golf Classic – A sold-out event under the Arizona sun as MLB Umpires golfed for good, rubbing elbows with UMPS CARE supporters at the Legacy Golf Club.
In addition to the fun on the links, we took time to remember longtime supporter and ESPN baseball reporter Pedro Gomez and volunteer Lisa Goldenberg. And we also honored a recent graduate from our UMPS CARE Charities All-Star College Scholarship Program – Anthony Uccieferri. Here’s a VIDEO clip in which Anthony shares what the program is all about.
February
MLB Umpire Alfonso Marquez took time out to inspire the next generation of umpires through our Official Leadership Program in which UMPS CARE Charities trains teens in under-resourced communities to learn social and emotional learning skills and umpire mechanics.
March
Kudos to the Minor League Baseball Umpires for coming together in Florida and Arizona to bowl in support of UMPS CARE Charities. The umpires did a tremendous job raising funds for our programs and continuing to grow the charity! The MiLB Umpires truly have created a special UMPS CARE community on and off the field.
April
A week after being punched in the face by the mother of a 12-year-old softball player, umpire Kristi Moore was able to go back on the field. UMPS CARE teamed up with the Atlanta Braves to have Kristi make the Play Ball call before the game. Kristi’s story made national headlines, spotlighting the rise in abuse against sports officials across the country. UMPS CARE was honored to support Kristi and help inspire her continue to umpire. Special thanks to MLB Umpires Ted Barrett and Lance Barksdale for talking to Kristi and to Nic Lentz for encouraging Kristi during her Play Ball call! Thanks also to the Atlanta Braves for helping us turning lemons into lemonade. Read more about Kristi in this column by Paul Newberry in the Associated Press.
May
UMPS CARE Charities was thrilled to host its first in-person ticket program event since 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic certainly threw everyone a curveball, but we plugged away, thanks to Zoom, to keep the program humming.
Teens who completed our Official Leadership Program in Philadelphia were able to meet with the MLB Umpire crew working a Phillies game, Dave Rackley, Sean Barber and Erich Bacchus.
UMPS CARE Charities kicked off its Stars & Strikes campaign over Memorial Day weekend with a golf tournament in Phoenix. In addition to UMPS CARE president Gary Darling, a retired MLB Umpire, we invited Kerwin Danley (retired MLB Umpire), NFL Referee Jeff Seaman and NCAA Umpire Matt McMahon, a retired Marine, to head foursomes with participants from the Wounded Warrior Umpire Academy. The tournament helped us raise more than $20,000 to send WWUA members and their families and friends to MLB games over the summer.
UMPS CARE also welcomed two new members to our All-Star College Scholarship Program – Landen Oda and Serena Mangual! Thanks to added support from Deloitte and Michael Alkin, UMPS CARE was able to support an additional student this year! Each year, UMPS CARE provides $10,000 to four to five students who are seeking their college degree. The All-Star College Scholarship Program is open to children who were adopted later in life, and each recipient is matched with an MLB Umpire who will mentor him/her throughout their college journey. Landen and Serena graduated from high school this year. Landen is studying at McDaniel College in Maryland and Serena is a student at the University of Central Florida.
June
In addition to hosting participants from youth-based organizations and military families at Major League Baseball games, UMPS CARE Charities also invites groups to attend games in Triple-A markets. MiLB Umpires signed baseballs for kids who came out to games throughout the season. All of the participants in our Blue Crew Ticket Program receive goody bags filled with all things baseball – Hampton Farms peanuts, Big League Chew bubble gum, GIANT Snacks sunflower seeds, TOPPS baseball cards and a gift card to use toward meal money! The memories of going onto the field and enjoying a game last for a lifetime!
July
UMPS CARE Charities was proud to salute the service of veterans who are participating in the Wounded Warrior Umpire Academy over the Fourth of July holiday. Through our Stars & Strikes fundraiser, we were able to send 30 and their families and friends – 160 participants in all – to games at 17 MLB stadiums across the country! Some of them got to enjoy special perks, like watching batting practice on the field, receiving signed baseballs from umpires and being honored by teams!
UMPS CARE helped make kids in Los Angeles get to feel like All-Stars as the city hosted the All-Star Game. Young patients undergoing medical treatment at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital received Build-A-Bear® furry friends, outfits and more thanks to UMPS CARE! Learn more about our Blue For Kids hospital program!
Meanwhile, at the Major League Baseball Youth Academy in Houston, teens were taught social and emotional learning skills in the classroom and umpire mechanics on the field through our UMPS CARE Official Leadership Program! Some of those students went straight from the program and started working behind the plate!
August
August was a busy month for us as we held four hospital visits at Comer Children’s Hospital, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, The Children’s at Montefiore and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. By the end of the month, we reached a special milestone, delivering more than 19,000 Build-A-Bear® stuffed toys to children dating back to the program’s inception in 2006.
We were honored to participate in the first in-person NASO Summit since the pandemic began. The summit was held in Denver, and our president, Gary Darling, was featured in an in-studio TV interview talking about our Official Leadership Program which trains teens in under-resourced communities to learn life skills and umpiring mechanics. Check out that SEGMENT on Denver Station KDVR here.
UMPS CARE was thrilled to be one of the designated charities at a golf tournament held at the Arrowhead Country Club in San Bernardino, California. Thanks to board member Ken Arimitsu for including us!
September
UMPS CARE was thrilled to host a hospital doubleheader, with deliveries of Build-A-Bear® furry friends to children at Boston Children’s Hospital and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Two hundred Build-A-Bear® toys made their way to young patients in one day!
Our friends, Dax Upton, Randy Upton and Brandon Riley held their second edition of the Official-ly Fore Kids golf tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah, to support UMPS CARE and our programs! Funds raised from this event made it possible for them to make a visit to Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital and deliver 100 Build-A-Bear® joy to kids undergoing treatment. Check out the smiles from that day!
October
It was so great to visit with young patients and their families at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Denver. MLB Umpires Paul Emmel and Chris Guccione took time out to hand deliver Build-A-Bear® stuffed toys along with Jimmy Volpi, a former Minor League Baseball Umpire who now works with RB American. Volpi was joined volunteers from the Arby’s Foundation at the event!
Umpires Brennan Miller and Chris Segal hosted their 2nd Annual East Coast Classic in Clifton, Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C. The event was a wonderful success and raised funds for a visit to Children’s National Hospital in December.
Meanwhile, UMPS CARE supporters gathered in Des Moines, Iowa, to raise funds for our All-Star College Scholarship Program and to remember MLB Umpire Eric Cooper who died unexpectedly in 2019. The Iowa community provided tremendous support for our All-Star College Scholarship recipient, Marcus Lo, now a junior at the University of Southern California.
November
Chandler Durham and Dave Martinez, who both umpired in Minor League Baseball this season, created a fun fundraiser for UMPS CARE called Bike for Bears. Chandler and Dave pledged to ride 100 miles for every $500 that was raised for our hospital program.
On November 29, also known as “Giving Tuesday,” UMPS CARE gave back to our monthly donors, taking them on a virtual tour of Major League Baseball’s Replay Center in New York. The event was followed up with a Q & A session with 2022 World Series MLB Umpire Crew Chief Dan Iassogna. The event was a huge hit!
December
The month got off to a fantastic start as MLB Umpire Adrian Johnson and UMPS CARE volunteers spent the day at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, where they delivered Build-A-Bear joy to young patients.
Thanks to the support we drew at the East Coast Classic, Brennan Miller, Chris Segal and Ryan Wills were able to cheer up kids undergoing treatment at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.
UMPS CARE also was thrilled to see students complete our Official Leadership Program held at the MLB Youth Academy in Compton, California! These students learned about goal-setting, financial literacy and perseverance in the classroom and umpire mechanics on the field! They are ready to go to the fields!
We are excited to do it all again in 2023! Thank you to everyone who donated, volunteered and sponsored our programs. We appreciate your continued support.
