KANSAS CITY -- The Royals are one of five finalists for the 2023 Allan H. Selig Award for Philanthropic Excellence, and fans can help vote for the winner over the next week.

The Selig Award was created in 2010 to recognize the charitable and philanthropic efforts of MLB clubs. This year, the Royals are being honored for their Shut Out The Stigma initiative, created in partnership with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. Its goal is to raise awareness of the growing mental health crisis in the Kansas City metro area and nationwide and provide resources to those in need. In 2023, the effort focused on the negative mental health outcomes of pressure on young athletes.

In May, the Royals unveiled two 10-foot letters written by young athletes to parents and coaches about their effect on those kids’ mental health and displayed those letters at youth baseball and softball complexes around the Kansas City area. Last week, Shut Out The Stigma debuted a 45-minute documentary “Not Good Enough,” which can be viewed here. The Royals and Blue KC partnered to create the film and interviewed several local parents, coaches and young athletes about their experiences.

“We started with the life-size letters as a way to kick-start it and make people stop in their tracks and go, ‘Whoa, was this created for me?’” said Tony Snethen, Royals vice president of the Pine Tar Collective and major driver of this initiative. “And then in the background, we’ve been working on this film. … We wanted to try to find a way to make a difference with this film and get the conversation going. Then go beyond that awareness and give tools in partnership with Blue KC, give people tools to actually be better.

“There were a lot of people throughout that process of being interviewed and filming who started to realize what they were doing. It was a really pivotal moment that was great for the film but also great for them.”

Fan voting is a key part of the final round of judging, as voting remains open until next Monday. The winner will be announced at the MLB Winter Meetings in December.

“It means everything because it means we’re being recognized by our peers, that we’re actually making a difference,” Snethen said about being a finalist. “... Knowing that together [with Blue KC] we’re making a difference in the community that we call home, to be recognized for that, means the world. Then, you’re on a national stage, you’re having eyeballs on your project that maybe wouldn’t be there before. For us, the ultimate goal of these letters and film was to get it in more people’s hands. When you have an award like this, that only helps the cause.”

The Royals won the Selig Award in 2021 for the Royals Response Fund, which utilized the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy as a community resource, specifically aimed for residents where the academy is located in the 18th and Vine District of Kansas City. That initiative provided more than 500,000 meals around the city and grants for 17 nonprofits while also developing a distance learning program during the COVID-19 pandemic.

That was the Royals’ first ever Selig Award, and this year they’re aiming for their second. The other finalists are the D-backs, Reds, Twins and Pirates.