A Giant Day at the Ball Park

“This is sacred ground,” gasped Georgene McNicoll-Sanchez as she and a small cadre of St. Anthony staff walked towards a halo of light streaming into a hallway in the underground labyrinth of AT & T park.  A San Francisco native, life-long Giants Fan, and 20+ year veteran employee at St. Anthony’s, Georgene was one of three lucky St. Anthony staff members who won an agency wide lottery to stand on the field at AT & T Park for a Home Plate ceremony on Friday, April 27^th, moments before the first pitch in a National League rivalry between the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres. Over 100 staff, volunteers, and clients at St. Anthony’s attended the game.

St. Anthony’s owes a debt of gratitude to the venerable San Francisco Giants and pitcher Barry Zito for stepping up to the plate to help build The New St. Anthony’s Dining Room at critical time for the agency.  President and CEO Larry Baer organized a Home Plate ceremony, along with the debut of a 30 second public service message from Barry Zito, to invite supporters in San Francisco and all around the Bay Area to be part of the miracle on Jones Street — a civic anchor that has served over 38 million meals to the hungry in San Francisco since 1950.  As the clock ticks on a summer deadline to raise the final $4 million for this project, the Giants have gone to bat for St. Anthony’s as they work to break ground on a new Dining Room in September 2012.

The momentous evening made clear the critical impact St. Anthony’s has on the city of San Francisco, an impact that is as important today as it was over 60 years ago when Fr. Alfred Boeddeker served the first meals in the St. Anthony Dining Room.

St. Francis once said, “Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”  For information on how you can be part of this once-in-a-lifetime project and make possible The New St. Anthony’s Dining Room, visit our website or text the word BUILDING to 50555 to make a $10 donation.