HEADLINE: Oriole Advocates: Promoting Baseball and the Orioles in 2025

This April, the Oriole Advocates will:

• Participate in Oriole gameday promotions, handing out clear stadium bags (April 11), Cedric Mullins t-shirts (April 12), Orioles Bird plush toys (April 13, Kids’ Opening Day), hockey jerseys (April 18) and David Rubenstein bobbleheads (April 19). The Orioles Advocates are the volunteers who distribute the giveaway items at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
• Hold a fundraiser for the Oriole Advocates Charitable Foundation at Checkerspot Brewing Co. on Sunday, April 13. The foundation gets a certain percentage of every “Bird's The Word” beer purchased from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Checkerspot is at 1421 Ridgely Street, just a stone’s throw away from the stadiums complex.
• Prepare a shipment to Kenya of gently used baseball equipment for young people in the African nation. The Oriole Advocates are working with a nonprofit called If We Build It, which is dedicated to supporting the development of baseball and softball fields in sub-Saharan Africa. The project is part of the Advocates’ Cardboard to Leather® program.

Through our Cardboard to Leather® program, the Oriole Advocates collect gently used baseball equipment for communities where there is a love for the game but lack of equipment to play it. First established in 1992, the name came from seeing children use cardboard in place of leather gloves to play ball. Today, thanks to the Advocates’ partners at Camden Yards, local Minor League stadiums, schools, little leagues, recreation departments, and individual donors, we’re able to collect and send over a hundred tons of equipment to youth players abroad annually.

The Advocates are also firming up dates for our Challenger Baseball program. Through Challenger Baseball, the Advocates encourage children with developmental and/or physical challenges to discover and play baseball with the support of our adaptive partner leagues. Since its inception in 2010, Challenger Baseball has supported more than 40 teams and 800 athletes throughout Maryland and Southern Pennsylvania. From bringing players to Oriole Park at Camden Yards to delivering prizes, meals, and giveaway items on-site, we’re building a community of adaptive athletes and their families.

The Oriole Advocates, established in 1960, is a nonprofit volunteer organization that brings people together from all walks of life through a shared love of baseball, the Baltimore Orioles, and making a difference. We focus on community impact through scholarships, donations, and events dedicated to promoting baseball and lifting up youth of all ages and abilities.

Content for this article was provided by Craig Ey, Oriole Advocates Public Relations Committee. For more information about the Oriole Advocates, see https://orioleadvocates.org