2014 community relations review new

1. Open Door Mission Drumsticks on Wheels Omaha Storm Chasers staff volunteered their time to go door to door to deliver the Thanksgiving fixing to those at the Open Door Mission.

2. Salvation Army Bell Ringing Staff members raised money and volunteered there time to ring bells at a local Hy- Vee store for The Salvation Army.

3. Project Wee Care Omaha Storm Chasers staff adopted a family during the holiday season and provided them with clothing, food and toys.

4. Western Douglas County Chamber of Commerce Holiday Food Basket Program Storm Chasers staff participated in the annual Holiday Food Basket Program sponsored by the Western Douglas County Chamber of Commerce.

5. Kansas City Royals FanFest The 2013 National Championship trophy traveled to Kansas City for the annual Royals FanFest. Photo to the left is Senior VP- Baseball Operations/General Manager of the Kansas City Royals Dayton Moore.

6. Kansas City Royals Caravan This seasons Kansas City Royals Caravan was held at StrikeZone. Native Nebraskan Alex Gordon was on hand signing autographs.

7. Read Across America Many Omaha Storm Chasers staff members took time out to participate in Read Across America. They visited over 20 schools during the months of February and March.

8. Speakers Bureau The Omaha Storm Chasers Speakers Bureau is proud to have Martie Cordaro, Mark Nasser and Sean Olson who go out to local organization such as Kiwanis Clubs, Lions Clubs, Schools, Churches and many more.

9. Home Run Foundation of Greater Omaha The Home Run Foundation participated in Omaha Gives! for the first year & raised $1,249.98. The first 20 fans to the Storm Front Team Store on May 21st received autographed mystery balls for attending the event. In conjunction with Chasers FUNdamentals, the Home Run Foundation of Greater Omaha donated $500.00 to the Omaha North Varsity Baseball team for their help with the 2014 Chasers FUNdamentals program. They were presented with their check on the field at Werner Park on August 4th.

10. Heritage Night This year, on April 18th, the Omaha Storm Chasers hosted Heritage Night. The Santa Lucia Festival and Native American Indian Education came out to Werner Park.

11. Hit The Books For the second year in a row, a student from Black Elk Elementary has been named the overall winner for the Storm Chasers Hit The Books Bookmark Contest. Selected from more than 4,000 entries at the 51 participating schools, Natalie Cummins bookmark is given out to the 17,964 students taking part in the Hit The Books literacy program in the Omaha Metro area. The Storm Chasers name one winner from Kindergarten through 6th Grade out of those 51 schools as well as one overall winner. Cummins will receive signed memorabilia, a personalized Storm Chasers t- shirt, a $50 Ticket Pass and more. Since 2007 the Omaha Storm Chasers Hit The Books literacy program, presented by Nebraska Educational Savings Trust (NEST) and Sump Memorial Library, has encouraged area elementary students to Hit The Books to show them that reading is an essential skill to have. This years participation was the most in the programs history.

12. Why I Want to Go to College Essay Contest The Omaha Storm Chasers teamed up with the Nebraska Education Savings Trust to present the 12th annual Why I Want to Go to College essay contest. Students in 7th & 8th grade both in and outside the state of Nebraska were encouraged to write an essay about why they want to go to college. From the nearly 1,500 entries, 3 winners were selected from each of Nebraskas three congressional districts and won prizes toward a NEST College Savings Plan. 3 out-of-state entries were also selected to receive contributions toward future education in the state of Nebraska.

13. All About Kids Day The second annual All About Kids Day was held on April 9th, 2014 as an education day at the ballpark for youth in the Omaha metro area. Over 2,871 students and teachers had the opportunity to watch a game at Werner Park courtesy of the Home Run Foundation of Greater Omaha. This year, the day was incorporated a Weather Theme with the help of WOWT meteorologists who met the kids and gave them weather information and tips.

14. All About Kids Day

15. Home Run Foundation of Greater Omaha-Robinson Athletic Scholarship Amani Wilson and Khyalil Hawkins were the recipients for the Home Run Foundation of Greater Omaha Robinson Athletic Scholarship for the 2014 season. Each of them received a $500 scholarship.

16. Chasers FUNdamentals Mission Statement: Bringing the game of baseball to the youth of minority populated areas in Omaha. In partnership with the Salvation Army North Corps and the Hope Center for Kids, our efforts are focused on connecting Minor League Baseball and the Omaha Storm Chasers to those communities during a culturally diverse youth clinic program.

17. Chasers FUNdamentals The goals of the FUNdamentals program are to bring baseball back to minority communities and assist local youth organizations in securing equipment.

18. Chasers FUNdamentals The 2014 season marked the fifth year for the Chasers FUNdamentals, presented by the Home Run Foundation of Greater Omaha and run by the Omaha Storm Chasers front office staff. The Salvation Army North Corps & The Hope Center for Kids participated in a five-week clinic on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Salvation Army North Corps field. All snacks & drinks were provided by CVS pharmacy.

19. Chasers FUNdamentals

20. Pilger Tornado Fill Phil/donation On June 16, 2014 a small town of Pilger, Nebraska was hit by a family of tornadoes. Storm Chasers fans help out by donating over $3,078.05 and 630 items to the Pilger Relief Fund.

21. Habitat for Humanity of Omaha On June 13, 2014 the Omaha Storm Chasers staff took the morning and helped rebuild local homes around the Omaha metro area.

22. Public Service Appreciation On Saturday, June 21st the Werner park parking lots played host to Community Safety Day. The Omaha Storm Chasers teamed up with Werner Enterprises and the National Safety Council to bring out public service organizations to give the community safety tips. Attendees of Community Safety Day were given a punch card to encourage visiting each organization. Once a punch card was full, it could be redeemed for a ticket voucher to an Omaha Storm Chasers Game.

23. ALS Advocacy National ALS Advocacy Day & Public Policy Conference President and General Manager Martie Cordaro was in Washington, DC for the ALS Public Policy Conference. Martie has served on the Nebraska Regional Advisory Council of ALS Association Keith Worthington Chapter; since 2007 and was representing the Chapter at the conference from May 7 to May 9 in DC.

24. Jirschele Family Memorial Golf Outing benefiting MDA The Omaha Storm Chasers hosted the Jirschele Family Memorial Golf Outing for the second year. The outing was held at Eagle Hills Golf Course, raising $1,245 in support of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

25. Military Appreciation Day On August 18th, US Bank presented Military Appreciation Day at Werner Park. A Welcome Home Event was held in the Big Top tent that included 645 fans who went around to multiple different vendors. U.S. Bank gave 250 additional military personnel tickets to attend the game.

26. Library Day Omaha Public Libraries had a summer reading program and library members had the opportunity to read and earn prizes along the way. One of those prizes was a voucher to an Omaha Storm Chasers game that was held on August 3 and 4. A total of 24,000 vouchers were distributed to libraries in the Omaha metro area.

27. Komen Johnny Rosenblatt Legacy Seats Four seats located behind home plate are wrapped in bright pink and designated for those who support the Komen Promise at every game. Breast Cancer survivors and their families were nominated and selected to receive four complimentary tickets to an Omaha Storm Chasers game and have the chance to throw out a first pitch.

28. Hurl The Pearl With help from McDonalds and Huber Automotive, the Omaha Storm Chasers raised $15,311 for the Ronald McDonald House this season.

29. Community Organization of the Night The Omaha Storm Chasers, with the help of Livewise Coalition, hosted 78 non-profit organizations at Werner Park for Community Organization of the Night. Each organization recieved: - Concourse Booth - First Pitch - Pre-game Interview - Radio Interview

30. Hy-Vee Canned Food Sunday The Heartland Hope Mission was the beneficiary of the Omaha storm Chasers and Hy-Vee canned food Sundays. Fans had the opportunity to bring in two non-perishable canned good to Werner Park and in exchange received a free McDonalds Berm Ticket. This season over 5,327 items were donated.

31. PlaySmart For every RBI, $10.00 went to PlaySmart, courtesy of Werner Enterprises. A total of $6,590 was raised in 2014.

32. C.A.R.E Program Chasers Actively Reaching Everyone Thank you to all the season ticket holders who turned in their unused tickets to give over 560 children and or adults the opportunity to come out to Werner Park during the 2014 season.

33. Player Appearances The Omaha Storm Chasers baseball players made many different appearances during the 2014 season. They visited the VA Hospital, Children's Hospital, daycare centers and libraries.

34. Mascot Appearances The 6 Omaha Storm Chasers mascots, Stormy, Vortex, Casey, Sizzle, Kernel Kobb, and Cappy made 335 appearances around Nebraska and Iowa and were at all 78 home games.

35. Staff Community Hours The Storm Chasers staff members volunteered throughout the 2014 season. Collectively, they had a total of over 870 hours.

36. Storm Shelter Omaha Storm Chasers staff along with first baseman Matt Fields made a young boys wish come true when they decorated his storm shelter hangout with Omaha Storm Chasers memorabilia & a home visit.

37. Donations The Omaha Storm Chasers were very proud to have donated over $55,322 in monetary donations, merchandise, suite tickets, mini plans, and birthday parties.

38. Autism Action Partnership Jersey Auction Again for the 2014 season, Autism Action partnership night was held at Werner Park. Game worn jerseys were auctioned and raised $4,870.

39. Coalition to Salute Americans Heroes Jersey Auction On June 7th, the Storm Chasers held a jersey auction for Coalition to Salute Americans Heroes and a grand total of $5,000 was raised.

40. National Wild Turkey Federation Jersey Auction Game worn jersey were auctioned off for the National Wild Turkey Federation on August 31st. The total raised for the night was $4,770.

41. Ronald McDonald House Along with the Hurl the Pearl program, the Omaha Storm Chasers went to the Ronald McDonald house multiple times over the season to cook dinner for the residents.

42. Special Events

43. Hops for Harmony Papillion Lions Club hosted Hops for Harmony at Werner Park on June 4th that benefited Project Harmony. More that 800 people were in attendance.

44. Color Fun Fest On June 14th, Werner Park hosted the 5K Color Fun Fest. 5,500 runners participated in the vibrant day to night run and enjoyed post run activities.

45. Ice Cream Cruise On Saturday, August 9th, the Werner Park parking lots hosted the 2014 Ice Cream Cruise. The full day car show was entertainment for more than 7,000 participants and spectators.

46. Walk to Defeat ALS The Omaha Storm Chasers had a team that raised $7,645 for the ALS Association Keith Worthington Chapter, beating the 2014 goal. This years walk helped raise over $210,000 to defeat ALS.

47. Great Nebraska Beer Fest Werner Park hosted the Great Nebraska Beer Fest on August 23rd. With 80+ breweries and over 400 individual American Craft Beers, more than 2,100 were in attendance.

48. BRIN 10K Run On June 28th, Werner Park played host to the BRIN (Born and Raced in Nebraska) 10K Run. 500 runners participated in the race.

49. Great Plains Colon Cancer Task Force Boxer 500 Again, for the third consecutive year, Werner Park hosted the Great Plains Colon Cancer Task Force Boxer 500. More than 1,500 people were in attendance.

50. Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Light the Night Walk On September 18th the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society held the Light the Night Walk at Werner Park. Over 850 participated in the walk.

51. Vehicle Day Omaha Storm Chasers staff & Stormy spent the day with 900 first graders from Papillion, NE discussing the importance of the Omaha Storm Chasers & their vehicles in the community.

52. Thank You The Omaha Storm Chasers would like to thank all of our fans and partners for your support during the 2014 season. For more information about the Omaha Storm Chasers Community Relations Department, contact: Megan Burdek (402) 738-2181 or [email protected] m See you all next season!

2014 community relations review new

Sports

chasers fundamentals

omaha gives

omaha metro area

kansas city royals fanfest

books literacy program

annual royals fanfest

books bookmark contest

participating schools