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Mariano Rivera to be honored at Double-A Trenton’s Arm & Hammer Park

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Mariano Rivera will be honored at Arm & Hammer Park on Thursday, August 7th, before Double-A Trenton’s scheduled game against Altoona. Rivera will throw out the ceremonial first pitch and be presented with a check from the MVP Foundation on behalf of his church, Refugio de Esperanza (Refuge of Hope).

You can read more info about the ceremony right here and purchase tickets using this link. Use the special offer code “MVP” while purchasing tickets online and $3 will be donated to the Mariano Rivera Foundation. Special thanks goes out to Eric Lipsman, the Thunder’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Sales & Partnerships, for the heads up and all his help and kindness over the years.

Food Network teams up with Yankees and Orioles for charity event

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The YAI Network, once a HOPE Week honoree, has joined the folks from Charm City Cakes’ Baltimore headquarters to hold a fundraising effort during the Yankees-Orioles series in Baltimore on Sunday, July 13th. A portion of the proceeds will be donated directly to YAI Network.

These classes are fun, engaging and have sold out quickly in the past. For more information, including sign-up details and a sneak peek at the Yankees/Orioles cakes, please click here. The Orioles have donated four tickets to the July 13th game vs. the Yankees, with batting practice field passes included. Guest judges will choose their favorite Yankees and Orioles-themed cakes and will award each winner a pair of tickets to that evening’s game.

Since 1957, the YAI Network has been providing hope and opportunity to people of all ages with developmental disabilities and their families. Our organization includes more than 450 programs and serves more than 20,000 people every day. To learn more about YAI’s mission, please visit their website.

WFAN’s Yankee Hot Stove event to help fight hunger

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For a good cause…

Come out this Tuesday, February 11th for an evening of food, drinks and meet & greets at NYY Steak Manhattan — Get tickets today at for WFAN’s Yankee Hot Stove with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman: www.whyhunger.org/hotstove

You’ll enjoy passed hor’dourves, wine, beer and soft drinks highlighting the best of NYY Steak Manhattan’s delicious menu, plus get an autographed photo of you with Yankee’s broadcast team John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman and enjoy the Yankee Hot Stove and Q&A.

100% of proceeds will benefit WhyHunger’s work to end hunger and poverty and ensure the right to nutritious food for all. Learn more at whyhunger.org.

Open Thread: Hungerthon

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Got some serious business to address tonight, but it’s for a good cause…

Hungerthon (website) is an annual radio broadcasting event established in 1975 as a partnership between WhyHunger and Infinity Broadcasting to raise awareness and funds for the now 50 million Americans and over 1 billion worldwide that remain hungry. Over the years, Hungerthon has expanded its outreach through the help of Sirius XM Satellite Radio and several New York tri-state area radio stations including CBS Radio Group, Clear Channel Radio Group and Univision, with support from Citadel’s WABC Talk Radio and 95.5 WPLJ, WFUV and internet stations Rockland World Radio.com and Soundpress.com.

2011 marked a banner year for WhyHunger with the most successful Hungerthon in the annual event’s history, raising a record $764,000 for the fight against hunger and poverty!

Hungerthon brings a live radiothon broadcast across the country preceded by a month of events, interviews and concerts to raise awareness and funds to combat hunger and poverty across the country and around the world.

After the jump is a list of various Yankees and sports-related auction items and events you can purchase with the proceeds going to Hungerthon. Here’s you’re open thread for the evening, go nuts.

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The 2011 RAB Pledge Drive

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Update (4/13/2011): Just bumping this up in case anyone missed it. I replied to every pledge email I received with a real short “great, thanks,” or something to that effect. That’s just to confirm I’ve received your email. If you emailed a pledge and did NOT get my reply this afternoon, then please resend it. I’m worried the spam filter might be catching stuff it shouldn’t. Thanks.

Original Post (4/7/2011): In each of the last three years, we’ve helped raise money for various charities backed by prominent Yankees, both current or former. Three years ago it was The Jorge Posada Foundation, two years ago it was Joe Torre’s Safe At Home Foundation, and last year it was Curtis Granderson’s Grand Kids Foundation.

This year we’re going to help raise money for Harlem RBI and DREAM Charter School, a foundation that launched a “capital campaign to build an innovative mixed-use facility in East Harlem, New York City, a community that lacks the resources needed for young people to thrive.” The new facility will house “program and office space for Harlem RBI, a permanent home for DREAM Charter School, low-income housing for East Harlem families and a public park in which the community can Play, Learn and Grow.”  Mark Teixeira continues to work closely with the organization (which you can learn more about at its website), announcing yesterday that he’s donated $1M to the cause.

We’re not going to raise that much money, but every little bit helps. We’re going to base this year’s pledge drive on Tex’s RBI total, which hasn’t been below 105 since his rookie season in 2003. If you pledge $0.25 per RBI and he has a season on par with his 162-game career average (121 RBI), your pledge will be just $30.25. See? That won’t hurt your wallet much. Plus it’s a charitable donation, so it’s tax deductible. You could pledge less or more, whatever suits you best.

If you wish to pledge this year, just shoot me an email at charity (at) riveraveblues (dot) com and let me know how much you wish the pledge per RBI. I’ll then collect the pledges after the season and donate everything to Harlem RBI & DREAM. Thanks in advance, and go Yankees!

Open Thread: 2010 Pledge Drive reminder

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Run and make your pledges now! (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

With the season unfortunately over, we can move on to some important business. Every year for the last three we’ve run a pledge drive during the season to raise money for a charity close to the Yankee family. Two years ago we raised $1,050 for The Jorge Posada Foundation and last year we raised $1,500 for Joe Torre’s Safe At Home Foundation. It’s our one good deed for the year.

This year we selected Curtis Granderson’s Grand Kids Foundation, which is an educational-based organization that helps purchase books and school supplies for needy families, and also provides equipment and facilities to baseball programs that help keep inner city kids off the street. You can learn much more about the foundation at it’s official website.

The idea is simple, readers pledge a certain amount for each time Grandy reached base this year, and at the end of the year we collect all the money and ship it over Grand Kids as one large donation. If you’re relatively new to the site or just missed the original post promoting the pledge drive, now’s your chance to get in on the action.

Granderson reached base 189 times this season (125 H, 61 BB, 3 HBP including playoffs), so a pledge of just $0.10 per time on base will cost you just $18.90. It’s that easy, and you’re more than welcome to pledge more or less than that. If you want in, just shoot me an email at mike (at) riveraveblues (dot) com with something like “2010 Pledge Drive” in the subject line. Makes it easier to organize on my end. I’ll get back to you with the details and go from there. It’s a piece of cake, and every little bit counts. Best of all, your pledge is tax deductible!

Once you’re done emailing me your last minute pledge, use this sucker as your open thread. The Giants are in Dallas to take on the Cowboys tonight on MNF, so that should be fun. You can talk about that or whatever you want, just don’t be a jerk.

The 2010 RAB Pledge Drive reminder

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In case you missed it, we’ve announced our plans for out 2010 Pledge Drive benefiting Curtis Granderson’s Grand Kids Foundation. Details can be found by clinking on the link. We’ve already raised $12.30 through two games, and are on pace for close to $1,000 this season. It’s never to late to get in on the action, and we can make your pledge retroactive to the start of the season, or effective today. We’re pretty flexible. Thanks in advance.