PIFBS works with our Partners & Supporters to help kids around the world play ball.
These partners are instrumental in allowing us to grow our impact by making generous financial contributions, large donations of in-kind product, and connecting us to groups in need of assistance.
OUR Featured partners
Our Featured Partners share our belief that any child who wants to play baseball or softball should have the opportunity to do so.
Little League
Little League was Pitch In For Baseball & Softball’s first ever partner, and remains one of PIFBS’ most supportive partnerships today. PIFBS recently teamed up with Little League and The Dicks Sporting Goods Foundation on the Sports Matter Equipment Grant Program, a large scale equipment grant to help leagues across the country return to play safely following the COVID-19 pandemic. For this initiative PIFBS sent out 3,560 kits to 366 Little Leagues. Over the years PIFBS has supported thousands of Little League worldwide.
Minnesota Twins Community Fund
PIFBS has partnered with the Minnesota Twins since 2015, with the launch of the Minneapolis/St. Paul School-Based Program. From 2017-2020, the School-Based Program impacted 172 baseball and softball teams serving 3,000 kids, with 24 teams also receiving donations in 2021. PIFBS also coordinated a project for the grand opening of the joint Twins/Phillies’ Academy in the Dominican Republic in 2017, and held an equipment distribution event at the Twins Spring Training home in Fort Myers, Florida in early 2020.
MLB + RBI
Pitch In For Baseball & Softball works with Major League Baseball teams and respective community funds to support youth baseball and softball in communities throughout the country. PIFBS also proudly serves as an equipment partner to Major League Baseball’s RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) program to help grow the game and increase participation. RBI is a youth outreach program designed to provide access and develop interest in the game among underserved youth. In 2020, PIFBS distributed 74 team kits to RBI-affiliated teams.
New York Mets
The Mets aim to help support youth baseball and softball in every community they’re a part of, and have partnered with PIFBS for projects in New York, Port St. Lucie (FL), and Boca Chica, Dominican Republic. The Mets have invested more than $350,000 to help support youth baseball and softball. 2021 marks the fourth year of partnership with the New York Mets and the Amazin’ Mets Foundation.
Reds Community Fund
PIFBS and the Reds Community Fund launched a School-Based program in Northern Kentucky in 2017. The organizations have worked together with St. Elizabeth Healthcare to assist 91 baseball and softball teams in the first five years of the program, contributing $45,000 worth of gear in 2021. In summer 2020, PIFBS and the Reds Community Fund teamed up to help local leagues return to play safely by investing in equipment, providing helmets, batting gloves, and baseballs/softballs.
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants will be PIFBS’ largest partnership in 2021, as PIFBS is sending gear to 50+ RBI programs that the Junior Giants support. The equipment includes gloves, baseballs and softballs, bats, batting tees, bases, and bags. This partnership is a multi-tiered effort, as the Giants work to ensure that kids in all of Giants’ territory have the resources they need to play ball.
Tull Family Foundation
The Tull Family Foundation has partnered with PIFBS for the past four years to offer an equipment grant program, which from 2019-2021 has assisted baseball and softball organizations serving economically disadvantaged youth in the Greater Pittsburgh area. TFF was founded by Thomas and Alba Tull to support organizations that are devoted to transforming the lives of people in underserved and underfunded communities.
USA Baseball
USA Baseball has been a partner since 2014 and has supported our mission by donating equipment and raising awareness. In 2020, USA Baseball selected PIFBS as the beneficiary of proceeds from the sales of USA Baseball branded face masks, donating more than $3,000. This donation (along with contributions from Todd Corbin) enabled PIFBS to donate equipment to the baseball and softball programs at South Fort Myers High School in Florida, so that equipment will no longer be a barrier for students to participate in the game.
USA Softball
PIFBS and USA Softball launched a partnership in 2021 that will help grow the sport of youth softball and provide access to the game for underserved youth. USA Softball is working with PIFBS to raise funds that will go directly to supporting youth softball leagues in need of equipment.
Wilson Sporting Goods
PIFBS has joined forces with Wilson Sporting Goods on a number of important projects over the years, including a series of packing and distribution events to assist schools in Chicago, IL, home of Wilson’s headquarters. In 2018 and 2019, PIFBS and Wilson worked together on a Softball Signature Project, distributing much-needed equipment to 30 school softball programs throughout Chicago. Wilson’s Get a Glove, Give a Glove campaign also provides one glove to a child in need for each Glove of the Month purchased.
Youth Development Foundation
In July 2020, PIFBS became an official service partner of the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation, providing baseball and softball equipment to help increase youth participation and expand access to baseball and softball. YDF is a joint initiative between Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association, delivering grants to organizations and fulfilling equipment needs through PIFBS.
Zack Hample
Professional ballhawk, Youtube sensation, and baseball superfan Zack Hample has supported PIFBS since 2009. His projects include campaigns to raise funds for PIFBS based on how many baseballs he catches throughout the MLB season, and with these efforts Zack has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to help kids play ball. On June 19, 2015, Zack made history by snagging Alex Rodriguez’s 3,000th career hit, which started the beginning of a PIFBS/Yankees partnership to assist youth programs in the Bronx.
Diamond Nation
We are excited to announce our partnership with Diamond Nation, one of the nation’s premier baseball and softball training complexes! This collaboration will help us in our mission to eliminate equipment as a barrier to play for underprivileged youth. As part of this partnership, Diamond Nation will serve as an official equipment collection site for Pitch In For Baseball & Softball (PIFBS) and will support various fundraising initiatives throughout the year. Together, we aim to mobilize the baseball and softball community to increase access to the sport for children who might not otherwise have the means to participate.
OUR SUPPORTERS
Our Supporters share our belief that any child who wants to play baseball or softball should have the opportunity to do so.
