SAN FRANCISCO – Last night, student-athlete volunteers for San Francisco RBI along with Dons' coaches and staff were among those honored at the fourth annual All-Star Dinner and Hall of Fame induction at the Fairmont Hotel. This year's event raised over $1,000,000 dollars to enhance and continue their efforts to bring back baseball and reading to inner-city schools.
 
San Francisco RBI is a non-profit organization that integrates reading and baseball into diverse under-resourced communities to provide children with the opportunity to be able to read at or above grade level. San Francisco RBI is a community partner organization with USF Athletics, and the Dons provide consistent weekly support to area elementary schools.
 
"Congratulations to our coaches, staff, and students who have helped change the lives of the youth in our community through the San Francisco RBI literacy program," noted USF Director of Athletics and 2014 inductee in the San Francisco RBI Hall of Fame. "We are proud of our partnership with SFRBI, Jim Messemer and his wonderful team. 

"The All-Star Dinner and the honoring of members of the USF community displayed all that is good about our community."
 
The evening opened up with a welcoming invitation from their host NBC anchor, Jessica Aguirre. The sellout crowd of more than 500-strong was filled with sponsors, volunteers and employees who enjoyed a three-course meal before the show commenced.
 
One of San Francisco RBI's own students spoke in front of the audience sharing her accomplishments thanks to the help of San Francisco RBI and its volunteers. The sixth grader discussed how she made the honor roll twice this year and was finally able to hit her first home run through the encouragement and support from her San Francisco RBI.
 
Five individuals and a group of volunteers were inducted into the Hall of Fame for going above and beyond to make San Francisco RBI the successful organization it has become.  Brad Horn, Vice President of Communications and Education for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, sent a video induction from Cooperstown, N.Y., and San Francisco Giants Matt Cain and Jeremy Affeldt were on stage to present each inductee with a plaque.
 
More than alf of the Hall of Fame class was comprised of Dons, three of which serve as USF head coaches.  Volleyball's Gilad Doron, baseball skipper Nino Giarratano, and head of the cross country and track and field program Helen Lehman-Winters all received recognition. USF assistant professor of teacher education, Helen Maniates, Ph.D., was also inducted in 2015's class. Katie Morgan, USF's Director of Creative Video, and baseball player Sam Granoff also took the stage to receive recognition.
 
To learn more about USF's community partner San Francisco RBI, please visit their website here.