Mayor honors Yankees for service to community

NEW YORK -- The Yankees were honored as one of four recipients of the 2023 New York City Mayoral Service Recognition Awards on Tuesday at a ceremony at Gracie Mansion.

The Yankees and Food Bank for New York City were recognized with the Partnership Impact Award for their work together on monthly popup food distribution events at Yankee Stadium.

Yankees senior vice president of corporate/community relations Brian Smith and Food Bank for NYC vice president of institutions and partnerships Janis Robinson were presented with the award by New York City chief service officer Laura Rog, on behalf of mayor Eric Adams.

"This is an incredible evening," Smith said. "It's great to be recognized by the mayor and his team. We know their commitment to New York City, and for them to give us the thumbs up, it means a great deal."

The Partnership Impact Award honors an innovative organization and business partnership that went above and beyond in serving a community.

"The Yankees are champions on and off the field," Rog said. "They're both on-the-field inspirational for everybody across New York City, and off the field they're doing things to better the Bronx community and help uplift their neighbors and contribute to the city."

The Yankees and Food Bank were joined by Children of Promise, NYC (Community Impact Award), Katharine Reed of the Sanitation Foundation (AmeriCorps Alum Impact Award) and Afnan Faiza of Sunnyside Community Services (Youth Impact Award) as this year's honorees. They were selected from 150 nominees.

"The Yankees and Food Bank [are] so instrumental, because not only do they start with just getting food and basic necessities out, they go above and beyond to connect people to longer-term opportunities to actually provide financial stability," Rog said. "They're able to use their pull in the community to bring people in to get more resources to uplift the Bronx community."

Every April during National Volunteer Month, the Mayoral Service Recognition Program celebrates New York City volunteers and service members who work to solve community challenges and meet city residents' most urgent needs.

"This really is a very special honor," Robinson said. "It means a lot to me and to our organization to partner with the New York Yankees. … We've been doing this for three years. So it's really, really special. We're so glad the mayor and his team recognized the work that we're doing."

The Yankees and Food Bank NYC have a longstanding partnership, starting their popup food distributions in May 2021. The distributions at Yankee Stadium help Bronx residents facing food insecurities, providing 500 families per month with access to shelf-stable food items and fresh produce.

"You hear, and you actually get to feel, the difference you're making in that household. It's unreal," Smith said. "We're just honored that we're in a position to give back and make a difference with partners like the Food Bank."

Last year, the Yankees also held an extra food distribution event in December at the NYPD's 44th Precinct in the Bronx to celebrate the holidays.

Manager Aaron Boone and Yankees front-office members helped distribute food, holiday toys and more to an additional 500 families from the Bronx.

"We really hear from the community every time we come out to distribute," Robinson said. "The comments are so positive. They really appreciate the Yankees for sure, and so that makes us feel good about the partnership."

"I say it all the time: It's tough to hear the Food Bank say 'Thank you' to the Yankees," Smith said. "They get up every day and they change lives."