In the latest Pittsburgh Pirates charitable event, the March 17th raffle winner receives season tickets to Pirates, Steelers, Penguins, and Pitt Basketball!
Are you the ultimate Pittsburgh sports fan? Know someone who is? For $25 you can be entered into a raffle to win two club-level season tickets to Pirates, Penguins, and Steelers games and regular seats for Pitt men’s basketball games. It’s all part of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh’s Home Run for Hunger Ultimate Sports Raffle happening now through noon on Thursday, March 17th.
The YMCA teamed up with the Pirates and charismatic catcher Francicso Cervelli to launch the raffle in an effort to “knock hunger out of the park” and raise funds for the YMCA’s food programs throughout Pittsburgh.
“Francisco is very passionate about cooking and food and he is very concerned about the disparity of food in our community – especially when it comes to kids, who should be getting the proper nutrition they need to be playing and active and not worrying about when they will get another meal,”said Kesha Pate, director of communications for the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh. “He’s such a wonderful, caring guy and we’re very excited that he’s agreed to be our spokesperson/champion of food-related causes.”
Here’s how the raffle works:
Between now and noon on Thursday March 17th, people interested in purchasing one or more $25 tickets visit the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh Home Run for Hunger page and click on the box to buy their raffle tickets. An email receipt for the ticket purchase will be emailed from the company ShowClix and the actual ticket numbers will be emailed to the buyer from the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh. The winning ticket will be based on the Pennsylvania Lottery Big Four Numbers drawn on the evening of March 17th, 2016. Each ticket will feature two sets of numbers, giving buyers two chances to win.
The winner receives club level season tickets to Pirates, Penguins, and Steelers games for the full 2016-2107 seasons (whichever apply) and regular season tickets to Pitt Men’s Basketball games. “These are premium seats that any Pittsburgh sports fan would love to have,” Pate added.
The goal for the raffle is to sell 5,000 tickets, which would bring in about $170,000 to go directly toward their food programs. Those programs include: Congregation meals served to hungry individuals in the community, a community garden, food pantries in Hazelwood and Homewood, teaching kitchens, and the Hope For All program, which provides a variety of resources to families that are struggling.
“47% of people in Pittsburgh struggle with food insecurity. That means that nearly half of everyone that you pass on the street is hungry,” said Pate. “And they are not always the people you would think they are.”
Last year, the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh served 730,262 meals in 284 sites across the area. Their youth programs served 10,397 snacks to hungry children and their Hazelwood emergency food pantry distributed food to 101,000 individuals and families, 52% of whom were veterans and 34% of whom had school-age children in the home.
“There’s a huge disparity in our community in the number of people who feel food insecure, that’s why we have programs like we do at the YMCA,” Pate added. And even then, resources are limited.
That’s why fundraising opportunities like the Home Run for Hunger Ultimate Sports Raffle are so important, she said. “We need all the help we can get so that we can feed more people here.”
That’s where the Pirates have been invaluable to the Y’s efforts.
“The Pirates Charities are very generous and a wonderful partners to have in our community. And it doesn’t just stop there, the people who work for the Pirates are passionate about this city, and not just because it’s the City of Champions. We are so thankful that they offer us their support and megaphone for getting the word out about our programs,” Pate said. “When we pool our resources together we can have a positive impact on people.”
As of Monday, the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh was more than halfway to their goal with 2,600 raffle tickets sold. To purchase tickets or to learn more about the Home Run For Hunger Ultimate Sports Raffle, visit http://www.ymcaofpittsburgh.org/raffle/
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