RBI Austin held their 10th annual “Now At Bat” fundraiser on Thursday night, January 28 at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas. What an amazing night celebrating a decade of positively impacting kids in the Austin area!
AM Technical Solutions (AM) proudly continued our support of the annual fundraiser as a Jr. RBI League Sponsor. We have been a sponsor since 2013, which has helped provide baseball and softball resources — as well as mentorship — for numerous inner-city kids and their families.
During this year’s event, we were involved in the following ways:
- Our company had two tables during the event.
- We had signage in the locker room at the ballpark.
- AM COO Dan Codi participated through a virtual portion of the event.
- Chief Development Officer Tim Glasson and his family attended.
Rich Garza, AM Chaplain and Soldiers For Faith Board Member, attended with his family.
The in-person festivities were hosted by ESPN reporter Pedro Gomez. This year’s keynote speaker was Sam Acho, the former University of Texas football star and NFL standout. Other attendees included former Houston Astros executive Reid Ryan and Longhorns legends Cat Osterman and Huston Street.
The RBI Austin team put on a great event that included batting cages, wonderful food, activities around the ballpark, and a live and silent auction that helped raise funds to continue expanding the organization’s work for decades to follow.
Since 2013, @AMTechSol has been a champion for RBI Austin.
As we celebrate our 10-year anniversary, we are so thankful for their long-term partnership and commitment to our 1,295 RBI Austin kids and families. It’s with great pride that we recognize them as a #NowAtBat21 sponsor. pic.twitter.com/SueeKOT8Ss
— RBI Austin (@rbiaustin) January 27, 2021
How RBI Austin & AM Have Created Long-Term Impact
One wonderful part of the event was seeing the long-term results of the RBI Austin program. We can point directly to the story of former RBI kid Arturo Garcia, who spoke during this year’s “Now At Bat” event.
While playing for his high school baseball team, Arturo joined RBI to participate in extracurricular activities. His high school coach, Matt Price, started RBI Austin with Andy Harris in 2009. RBI started out helping about 20-30 players, and Arturo was one of the first players to participate.
Now, RBI helps about 1,400 players. More than helping with sports development, though, RBI Austin has also created a long-term positive impact on the lives of kids who participate in the program.
“RBI helps academically, spiritually, and mentally by providing mentors and using baseball as a gateway,” Arturo says.
This experience through RBI Austin and our company’s involvement with the organization led to Arturo linking up with job opportunities that we offer. Arturo met one of our executives, Tony Manti, at an RBI clinic that AM sponsored. Tony was then able to help Arturo get his foot in the door with a construction role to utilize his college degree.
“It’s great that AM is helping the community while still keeping a professional business model within the organization,” Arturo says. “Not many companies go out the way to help inner-city kids, which is why I like the company. They look out for the community and the company.”
Now, Arturo is the construction manager at one of our company’s semiconductor clients. Arturo graciously shared this story during this year’s fundraiser, capturing how our partnership with RBI Austin has helped kids like him develop life skills through baseball.
“Arturo’s story captures exactly why we continue to invest in the Austin community through amazing organizations like RBI Austin,” says Tony Manti. “Our company has been unbelievably blessed throughout our history, and we are excited to give back to kids and families that can use a helping hand so they can reach their potential.”
– Find out more about RBI Austin at RBIAustin.org. Consider how you can get involved in supporting the organization.
– Thank you to RBI Austin for spotlighting our company’s impact on the Austin community.
