Through volunteer efforts amid COVID-19, Marlins showing community ‘we’re all Miami’
For Miami Marlins pitcher Pablo Lopez, moments like Monday are just as valuable as a quality start on the mound. The chance to interact with fans and the community, especially while the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic remain at large, is personal for Lopez.
That’s why Lopez took pride in spending the better part of three hours volunteering with the Marlins Foundation as part of the team’s 12th annual Home Plate Meals Thanksgiving distribution. Over the course of three hours, the Marlins handed out 1,000 meal boxes via a drive-thru in one of the parking lots just east of Marlins Park. Each meal box contained about 40 pounds of food, including items for a family Thanksgiving dinner like turkey and canned vegetables. Overall, the event was expected to serve more than 20,000 meals.
“It lets them know we’re the Marlins, but we’re also a family. We’re all Miami,” Lopez said. “Taking these opportunities to let them know that and to support them just like how they support us during the season really means a lot.”
And the Marlins have been reciprocating that support all year. Ever since the pandemic began to pick up in March, shutting down MLB for three-plus months before its season could even begin, the Marlins have been at the forefront in helping out the community.
Including Monday, the Marlins Foundation has donated about 700,000 meals through its Home Plate Meals Relief Fund. That included almost weekly drive-thru food distributions since April, 225,000 meals given to students with the help of Feeding South Florida and Bridge to Hope, 5,563 meals to frontline workers and another 2,700 to members of the service industry, and 4,000 meals at a pair of polling locations on Election Day.
“We said early on when we took over the organization that we wanted to be the community’s team, and part of that is being here to support the community,” Marlins CEO Derek Jeter said. “We’re very happy with what we’ve been able to do during this year. We’ll continue to do that. We’ve gotten a lot of support. Our partners have supported us through a tough year for them as well. This is what we should be doing. This is what makes us feel good as an organization. You see a lot of our volunteers that are out here throughout the organization. They understand it’s impactful, and they understand that it’s important.”
The Marlins were out in full force Monday. Among those also in attendance Monday, in addition to the dozens of volunteers: majority owner Bruce Sherman, chief operating officer Caroline O’Connor, chief revenue officer Adam Jones, Lopez, pitcher Dan Castano, Marlins alumni Gaby Sanchez and Alex Gonzalez, and Miami-Dade County mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
For the Marlins players, it was some of the first in-person interaction with fans this season. The 60-game regular season was played in empty stadiums and fans weren’t allowed into a ballpark until the National League Championship Series and the World Series at Arlington’s Globe Life Field in Texas. The Marlins, who went 31-29 and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2003, were eliminated one round before that by the Atlanta Braves.
“We love the fans,” Castano said. “We just want to get involved with them as much as possible. Stuff like this is really fun. It’s a little bittersweet. I brought one of my gloves. We were talking about giving it away to one of the kids, but we haven’t been able to just because everyone’s in cars, so we’re looking forward to this subsiding a little bit and looking forward to the season and seeing the fans, being able to interact. That’s half of the fun. Stuff like this is cool just to be able to give back.”
Lopez added: “Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to have fans in the stands, but we felt their support on social media, how they would let us know they were watching us on TV. Being able to interact with them, even like this right now handing out turkeys, feels really good.”
It’s that selfless feeling that has Marlins players willing to keep going out to Marlins Foundation events.
“We want to represent the city of Miami the right way,” said outfielder Lewis Brinson, who was at the Liberty Square Community Center, a polling location in Liberty City, on Nov. 3 to help pass out veggie burgers and chicken and rice burritos to voters. “If I’m here, I want to be part of giving back. ... I love seeing people’s faces when we give them food or just when they see us, just to help them when maybe they’re going through something in their lives.”
Eventually, the Marlins hope sooner than later, those faces will be filling up Marlins Park again.
“Baseball’s not going anywhere,” Castano said. “We’re going to have a season next year. Just staying involved with the fans and knowing we’ll see them next year ... I’m just happy to be here and to give back a little bit.”
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