Jays receive MLB philanthropic award

The stadiums were only 160 kilometres apart, from the big-league dome in Toronto to its minor-league satellite in Buffalo.

But for a major-league baseball team so attached to the community not just in its home city but across Canada, the Blue Jays faced their share of off-field challenges in 2020.

How to remain engaged with a loyal fan base disconnected from the team was certainly one. Maintaining strong and charitable ties to the community was another, especially with a team that wouldn't set foot on Canadian soil after being exiled to its temporary Western New York home base in July.

The Jays made good in both areas and for the latter were recognized for their efforts on Monday when Major League Baseball awarded the team the Allan H. Selig Award for Philanthropic Excellence.

While the young team led by Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio and others was doing its thing at Sahlen Field in Buffalo — qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2016 — the Jays staff and volunteers stayed busy on the other side of the border, embarking on a $7.5 million COVID-19 effort to those acutely affected by the pandemic.

Included in the work carried out under the team's Jays Care Foundation, the Rogers Centre was made into a temporary food drive headquarters, mobilizing staff and volunteers to make a non-baseball impact.

Those efforts extended far beyond the team's longtime home, a coast-to-coast initiative that included an estimated 20,000 hours in volunteer work resulting in the delivery of 8.1 million meals to Canadians in need.

While it's easy to be cynical about big-money sports franchises — especially those owned by corporate giants such as Rogers Communications — the Jays have long stressed the importance of community connection.

It has become a priority — and point of pride — under president-CEO Mark Shapiro's watch, where the Jays Care Foundation has been active in several charitable connections over the years. The work in 2020 caught the attention of MLB as a standout set of accomplishments among its 30 teams.

“Despite not playing on Canadian soil this summer, our hearts remained in Canada — with those in our community that were experiencing urgent needs exacerbated by the pandemic,” Shapiro said in a statement. “Sport provides a tremendous opportunity for positive change.”