Touching Lives

I first saw my mom teaching when I had to go with her to Franklin High School. My school had a short day, so I sat in the back of her classroom and watched her teach. I noticed how she personally connected with each student. She spoke with each - the star students and the struggling ones - exactly the same, showing great care. When she moved through the hallway at the end of the day, I recognized her extending that same level of attention to adults. She stopped and spoke with the same focus and concern to the principal and to the janitor.

With our family gatherings, I saw my Mom use her talents to bring the large group together. She was quick to take charge and offer up a mini-assignment or ice-breaker that got the conversation rolling. By getting us talking and sharing our stories, it not only put us at ease but allowed each of us to connect and grow closer.

As the ALL RISE Foundation came into view, she and I would discuss our common desire to help youth and how we could do so. In car rides and over meals, we talked about giving youth opportunities to learn leadership skills or how we could encourage youth to develop teamwork. Our core components, the foundation of the ALL RISE Foundation, come from these conversations and her experience as an educator of thirty-three years. We developed our first program, the ALL RISE Mini-Grants, as a way to partner with organizations already doing meaningful, positive work with the youth in our communities. Our Mini-Grant initiative has given away more than $90,000 to date. Her experience as an educator and with the California Association of Directors of Activities (CADA) played an integral role in the creation and continued growth of ALL RISE.

My mom’s skill of making people feel at ease comes into play every day with the Foundation. It doesn’t matter whether she is speaking to a room of five or five hundred, she has the unique ability to connect with each person in the room and bring them into our Foundation’s story. She truly puts into practice her belief that success comes when we all work together, something that has resonated with me throughout my baseball career. No matter our role in the Foundation - sharing a social post, wearing an ALL RISE shirt, taking #just5minutes to connect with youth - we all have an important part to play in helping ALL RISE reach our mission of inspiring and engaging youth.

CADA recently honored her with an award that recognizes someone with “exceptional character and kindness who has contributed significantly to the leadership development of students, teachers, and/or administrators.” That is the woman I saw at Franklin High School and that is who I see every day working with me to grow ALL RISE.

Everyone can contribute to our team’s success. The lesson for me is that the lives we touch, the connections we foster, and the belief we instill in others allows everyone to contribute to helping a team thrive. I bring that lesson with me into the locker room, and I hope you see it through our work with the Foundation. We are grateful for your support of ALL RISE. Together as a team, we can make an even bigger impact.

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