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Volunteers of America Honors Shane Victorino

Shane Victorino of the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies was presented with Volunteers of America’s 2009 Outstanding Community Service Award. The award, given June 8 during VOA’s national convention in Washington, DC, recognized his work as a mentor and inspiration to Philadelphia-area youth volunteers through the national Action Team program.

As a surprise, the award was presented by Victorino’s father, Michael Victorino, who flew from Maui to Washington to deliver the honor to his son.

Victorino credits his father with instilling the importance of community service at a young age, saying, “It’s in my family tradition and culture to give back. Service can help you find direction. It can give you career ideas and opportunities you wouldn’t expect.”

Michael Victorino is an Insurance Advisor with Mutual Underwriters and also serves as a councilmember of Maui County, Hawaii. He is a member of several committees and currently chairs the Water Resources committee, while also staying actively involved in his community, faith and family.

Volunteers of America presents its Outstanding Community Service Award to individuals who display outstanding service to their local community, either through work with the local Volunteers of America office or through a community project.

As a four-year member of the Philadelphia Action Team – part of the national youth volunteer initiative administered by the Major League Baseball Players Trust and Volunteers of America – Victorino spends time with high school students in the Delaware Valley region, sharing his passion for service and getting personally involved with causes he believes in, including the ALS Foundation.

In May, Victorino and fellow Phillies player Ryan Howard joined local Action Team students in volunteering at Volunteers of America Delaware Valley’s Eleanor Corbett House in Glassboro, NJ, which offers emergency shelter and other services for homeless families.

After receiving the Outstanding Community Service Award, Shane Victorino helped present $150,000 in grants from the Major League Baseball Players Trust to five Volunteers of America programs that further the organization’s mission to strengthen communities and build better lives for those in need. The five programs serve thousands of people in Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin.

Among the more than $4.5 million Major League baseball players have contributed to Volunteers of America, a total of $580,000 has been provided by the Players Trust to dozens of Volunteers of America programs across the U.S.

Volunteers of America has partnered with the Major League Baseball Players Trust since 2002. The centerpiece of this relationship is the Action Team program, which encourages young people throughout the United States to volunteer in their communities. Action Teams, consisting of Major League Baseball players and Team Captains from area high schools, work together in cities nationwide to encourage young people to get involved in their communities by volunteering.

To date, Action Teams of high school students and Major Leaguers across the country have inspired more than 17,000 high school students to help more than 75,000 people in need by volunteering in their communities. Beginning in September 2009, virtually every high school in America will be able to join the Action Team by participating in a new Internet version of this unique service-learning program.  Action Team applications and additional information can be found by visiting www.VolunteersofAmerica.org/actionteam or by sending an e-mail request to ActionTeam@mlbpa.org.

The Action Team program also includes a school-based curriculum developed by the Players Trust in partnership with The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition that carries the message of volunteerism and teaches valuable community service skills to 700,000 high school students in more than 5,000 classrooms across the United States.