Teams 
With the groundbreaking of our new Ballpark on July 18, 2009, the Marlins long-term future in South Florida was solidified. The community's commitment to keeping the Marlins in Miami was immediately reciprocated and the Marlins Ayudan program was born. The Marlins family is dedicated to making South Florida a great place to live, and Marlins Ayudan is one way. In just two seasons, Marlins Ayudan, also known as The Blue Shirts, have worked thousands of hours making an impact in the areas of education, the arts, baseball, environmental improvements, health causes, international relief and military appreciation. An estimated 30,000 people have been directly impacted by Marlins Ayudan.
Philanthropy is time, talent and treasure. Our philanthropy is a calling to give more than grants, but of ourselves. Marlins Ayudan (Spanish for "help") is our front-office volunteer program. Marlins Ayudan is a top of mind service corps that responds to a variety of community needs and is now widely known to be an accountable and recognizable corporate leader in volunteerism.
The goal of Marlins Ayudan is three-fold. It is to leave a lasting legacy as a result of Marlins Ayudan activities; to engage our front office in volunteer work as well as act as a conduit to help each employee find a cause they are passionate about; and to be recognized by our fan base as a corporate leader in volunteerism that fulfills an integral role within the community.
On November 22, members of the Marlins Community Outreach and Marlins Foundation spent the day at Jubilee Center of South Broward. The soup kitchen is always in need of extra volunteers around the holidays and Marlins Ayudan helped serve the more than 100 membersthat visit daily in order to receive a hot meal. In addition to lunch, Marlins Ayudan helped pack 50 thanksgiving meals including turkeys, desert, and side items needed for a proper Thanksgiving meal. The meals were later distributed to deserving families from the Jubliee Center.
With only a week until Thanksgiving, Marlins Ayudan partnered with Neighbors 4 Neighbors to distribute 1000 meals including turkeys and all the fixings to deserving families. The food distribution took place at Marlins Park thanks to the helping hands of over 60 Marlins employees and Hall of Famer Andre Dawson. Families from the Little Havana area were selected through organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters, Abriendo Puertas, La Sagrada Familia. It was a special day where the Marlins were truly able to brighten people's spirits and make a difference this holiday season.
The Marlins Ayudan team "Making Moves" lead by VP, General Manager Mike Hill visited Miami Edison Middle school joining Art Studio Miami to collaborate on an art project with the kids. Art Studio Miami is a nonprofit organization that provides a creative outlet for at risk youth to express themselves. Working together everyone created mobiles that would eventually be hung throughout the classroom.
The Marlins Ayudan Team "Pitching In" led by VP of Corporate Sales, Brendan Cunningham visited Shake-A-Leg Miami with elementary school students from Richard Allen Leadership Academy. Marlins staff and Shake-A-Leg Miami, which celebrated its 20th year of serving special-needs populations last year, were able to spend the day with the kids kayaking to the eco islands in Biscayne Bay, learning about native plants and the surrounding environments, and even had the opportunity to explore some of its wild sea life. It was a certainly a day the children will not soon forget.
The Marlins Ayudan Team "Kid Konnection" led by VP of Marketing, Sean Flynn, spent a day at Jackson Pediatric Center. The group spent time in the playground with the children, playing games, catch, and pushing them on the swings. Afterwards, the children were fed lunch by the volunteers. After the kids went off for their afternoon naps, the Ayudan team lent their hands in an effort to clean up the grounds of the Pediatric Center. The group raked leaves and weeded the property, filling over 10 trash bags in the process.
The Marlins Ayudan team "Kids-R-Us" led by VP, and General Counsel Derek Jackson spent a day renovating the pavilion at His House Children's Home. The pavilion serves as the campus's center for after school activities. The team helped out by restoring and repairing the pavilion's dilapidated picnic tables, while also painting the exterior walls of the pavilion. Upon completing the restoration for the pavilion, the group served ice cream and various toppings to the children at His House as part of their weekly Ice Cream Social. Afterwards, Marlins Ayudan made a donation of $5,000 to His House to assist them with their daily operations.
Marlins Ayudan paid a visit recently to Miami Children's Hospital to watch the Marlins vs. Braves game. The team watched the game in the Cinema at the Michael Fux Family Center with Pediatric patients from the hospital. The group also held a pizza party for the children sponsored by Sir Pizza. Following the watch party and pizza party, the team made room visits to children who were unable to leave their rooms to attend the day's festivities.
Marlins Ayudan spent the day delivering tickets and books to local schools. Fourteen schools around the stadium each got 400 tickets to Closing Day on September 28th. They were also given Marlins Yearbooks and various baseball books for their media centers.
Marlins Ayudan Teams spent a day beautifying a local middle school. As part of a partnership between the Marlins and City Year Miami, the two Ayudan teams joined City Year Miami corps members in a service project at Allapattah Middle School. The Ayudan "Blue Shirts" and the City Year "Red Jackets" worked on planting three gardens, and also painting a mural, columns, and doors throughout the school's entrance.
The Marlins along the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana held their Back to School Caravan. The Caravan distributed thousands of school supplies to low income students at different Elementary Schools in Miami. Each student received a book bag containing 4 pencils, 6 notebooks, 4 folders, safety scissors, glue stick, crayons, ruler, composition book and filler paper.
The Back to School Caravan started on the first day of school on Monday, August 22nd at Citrus Grove Elementary. On Tuesday, the Caravan continued at Comstock Elementary, Auburndale Elementary, and Orchard Villa Elementary. The Caravan concluded on Wednesday at Thena Crowder Elementary and St. Mary's Cathedral.
The Marlins Ayudan team "Making Moves" lead by VP, General Manager Mike Hill spent an afternoon doing an arts and crafts project with students at Art Studio Miami. Each member of the Ayudan team paired up with a student to work side by side on the project. The pairing pasted pieces of wood to form a figure that was later painted and hung from a copper tree. Following the project, the students and Ayudan members joined to do breathing, stretching, and relaxation exercises.
Marlins Ayudan held its first of two Organizational wide events at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Over 100 Marlins employees were in attendance. Employees assisted in painting curbs, pressure cleaning, landscaping, and painting the walls in front of Holtz Children's Hospital. Four Marlins players including Burke Badenhop, Bryan Petersen, Logan Morrison, and Steve Cishek paid a visit to several pediatric patients and their families at Holtz Children's Hospital.
The Marlins Ayudan Team "Cash Dorm" visited South River Drive Neighborhood Park near the New Ballpark that needed some sprucing up. The group helped by planting new trees along the riverfront. They also worked on some landscaping as well as garbage pickup throughout the park.
The Marlins Ayudan team "PJ's Funny Bunnies" paid a visit to MACtown. MACtown is non-profit organization dedicated to furthering the independence of people developmental disabilities. They spent their day playing games and doing activities with the residents at MACtown. Following the morning's activities, the Ayudan team put their hairnets on and served lunch to the residents.
Marlins Ayudan spent a day at Biscayne Nature Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne. This Ayudan team was composed of the organizations interns and Community Outreach staff. They spent the day cleaning up the beaches and mangroves on Key Biscayne. The group collected over 600 lbs of trash in about three hours of work.
Despite the nonstop torrential downpour, The Marlins Ayudan team "Pitching In" still dedicated their day to assisting Habitat for Humanity. The team spent the day installing dry wall throughout the soon to be home. They were involved in everything from measuring, cutting, fitting, and nailing the dry wall. Sherri Thompson, the future homeowner and mother of four, was also on hand to help with construction of the home.
The Marlins Ayudan team, Marlins Platoon 305, visited the Miami VA Hospital to spend the day with local veterans. During their time at the hospital the Ayudan team split up into groups where they assisted with gardening and mulching around the hospital, as well as set up and preparation for lunch. The team, along with Billy the Marlin, was given a tour of the hospital and spent time visiting veterans throughout the hospital. Billy the Marlins also made a visit to a rehab unit and spent some time taking part in some rehab exercises. Afterwards, the Ayudan team prepared and served lunch to veterans from the Spinal Cord Injury unit. The veterans enjoyed hotdogs, hamburgers, coleslaw, baked beans, chips, fruit punch, and watermelon.
The Marlins Ayudan Team "Making Moves" made a visit to the Ronald McDonald House in Miami. The team spent their day interacting and playing games with the patients staying at the House. After the morning activities, the group provided and served lunch to the patients and their families.
After two years unable to access their condemned school playground, the students from Citrus Grove Elementary received a state-of-the-art playground, together with a new community garden, a school mural and nutrition plan to encourage healthy living.
The Marlins together with GMCC Leadership Miami and Hunt Construction Group built a new playground for the students of Citrus Grove Elementary. This initiative was part of an ongoing effort to improve the community of Little Havana. Marlins and Hunt Construction Group presented a check for $40,000 to the school.
During Field Day, members of the Marlins Ayudan Team demolished the old condemned playground and planted a new community garden. Students from Citrus Grove Elementary were on-site to join the festivities with bounce houses, games, giveaways and special appearances from Billy the Marlin and Marlins Mermaids. The GMCC Leadership Miami team also educated the students on the importance of eating healthy and living an active lifestyle.
