Ripken Collegiate Baseball Players Collect 7,675 Pounds of Food for Manna Food Center
Gaithersburg Giants Win Challenge for Second Year in a Row
On Saturday, July 13, scores of college baseball players who have come from across the country to play summer baseball in Montgomery County collected 7,675 pounds of food at twelve Giant Food stores across Montgomery County for the Manna Food Center. The Gaithersburg Giants repeated as champions capturing the Tenth Annual Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League’s Feed the Hungry Challenge by collecting 2,926 pounds of food. Players from the Bethesda Big Train and Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts also collected food on Saturday. Bethesda and Silver Spring both set individual team records for the most food collected in the decade of the annual challenge. In the ten years of the competition, the college players have collected 60,846 pounds of food — more than 30 tons of food — for Montgomery County’s neighbors in need. Thanks to the Manna Food Center, Giant Food, and Text Design for supporting this community service program of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League.
Jackie DeCarlo, Manna Food Center CEO, said “Once again the Cal Ripken League teams came together for the local community in an impressive effort. The Manna team thanks all who made the collection of nearly four tons of food possible. The decade long effort by the Ripken League has provided 30 tons of food for the people we serve. It is especially valuable to get this food now to restock our shelves for the summer.” Ripken League Co-Founder Bruce Adams, who initiated the Feed the Hungry Challenge in 2010, said: “Seeing these college ballplayers who have come here from all across the country pitch in to serve our Montgomery County neighbors in need reminds us of the good there is in the world when we all work together.”
Here’s the nine-year history (TOTAL: 60,846 pounds = more than 30 tons):
2019 – July 13 (note: each team collected at four Giant Food stores)
Gaithersburg 2,926 pounds
Bethesda 2,716
Silver Spring-Takoma 2,033
TOTAL 7,675 pounds = 3.8 tons
2018 – June 30 (note: each team collected at three Giant Food stores)
Gaithersburg 3,205 pounds
Rockville 2,661 pounds
Bethesda 2,425
Silver Spring-Takoma 1,208
TOTAL 9,499 pounds = 4.8 tons
2017 – June 10 (note: each team collected at two Giant Food stores and one Whole Foods)
Rockville 3,670 pounds
Gaithersburg 2,315
Bethesda 1,726 (plus Friendship Heights Whole Foods at 435 for 2,161)
Silver Spring-Takoma 670
TOTAL 8,816 pounds = 4.4 tons
2016 – July 9 (note: each team collected at three rather than two Giant stores)
Rockville 3,262 pounds
Bethesda 2,415
Gaithersburg 1,204
Silver Spring-Takoma 1,202
TOTAL 8,083 pounds = 4 tons
2015 – July 18
Rockville 2,145 pounds
Bethesda 1,336
Gaithersburg 868
Silver Spring-Takoma 802
TOTAL 5,151 pounds
2014 – July 12
Bethesda 1,198
Silver Spring-Takoma 1,084
Rockville 999
Gaithersburg 659
TOTAL 3,940 pounds
2013 – July 13
Rockville 1,858
Bethesda 964
Gaithersburg 890
Silver Spring-Takoma 850
TOTAL 4,562 pounds
2012 – July 7
Silver Spring-Takoma 1,863
Rockville 1,621
Bethesda 1,356
TOTAL 4,840 pounds
2011 – June 18
Rockville 1,660
Bethesda 1,562
Silver Spring-Takoma 1,432
TOTAL 4,654 pounds
2010 – June 12 (note: each team collected at two Giant stores)
Rockville 1,658
Bethesda 1,166
Silver Spring-Takoma 802
TOTAL 3,626 pounds