Together We Are Giant

Last Friday, a group of 100 from  St. Anthony’s  enjoyed a night out at the ballpark with the San Francisco Giants. We watched as our Executive Director and other representatives from our staff and board joined with Cy Young Award winner and three-time all-star Barry Zito for a special home plate ceremony before the game.  The purpose of the ceremony was to publicize St. Anthony Foundation’s campaign to build the new St. Anthony’s Dining Room.

The sight of a large group from St. Anthony’s at a Giants game, clad in our trademark teal t-shirts with our Giants black and orange is quite a sight to behold.  For Victor, a churro vendor who was working our section in the bleachers, we were a welcome reminder of an organization that helped him through a tough time in his life.  As soon as Victor saw us, he said, “Hey St. Anthony’s!  I love St. Anthony’s!  You guys saved my life!”

Victor had come to the drop-in hours at our Social Work Center, where he was able to get information about other services that could help him get back on his feet. He also ate in our Dining Room and received clothing from our Free Clothing Program.  It was great to see that Victor was back on his feet and happy, with a wonderful job at AT&T park, home of the 2010 World Champion San Francisco Giants!

Every time we saw Victor that night, we gave him a big round of applause and he gave us an “I love you guys”.

Our interaction with Victor reminded me of what San Francisco Giants President and Chief Executive Officer Larry Baer said at our capital campaign kickoff: “the most important intersection in San Francisco is Golden Gate and Jones”.  For Victor, I think that Golden Gate and Jones may just tie with 3rd and King as two of the most important intersections in town.  It’s really true: Together we are Giant!