Arizona Diamondbacks President & CEO Derrick Hall was honored earlier today with the APS Peacemaker Award at Valle Del Sol’s Profiles of Success at the Phoenix Convention Center. The annual award recognizes a community leader who significantly impacts the lives of many in a positive way by promoting peace and well-being.
“It is a great honor to be recognized for our commitment to community,” said Hall. “We pride ourselves on being a leader in giving back each and every day and to be acknowledged for doing so is very special.”
Hall has been very open with the community and fans about his prostate cancer diagnosis in 2011. He has been an outspoken advocate during his subsequent treatment in an effort to encourage men to get a prostate cancer screening. He is the driving force behind the team’s award-winning charitable efforts. As a result, the D-backs and Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation have surpassed $33 million in combined donations since their inception in 1998 and continues to be seen as one of the top philanthropic organizations in the Valley.
Last year, the D-backs created an employee-driven community service program titled the “D-backs Give Back League” which featured nine groups working on separate projects to help improve the Arizona community. The nine teams combined to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars with more than 2,650 hours of time volunteered by D-backs employees.
In April, the D-backs made their third trip to Mexico within the last year to help build connections and relationships with officials and citizens in Mexico. D-backs representatives, including Legend Luis Gonzalez, traveled to Mexico City with a contingent of several Phoenix officials, including Mayor Greg Stanton, to meet with officials from the travel and tourism industry detailing the benefits of a visit to Phoenix, including Chase Field.
A D-backs contingent also traveled to Hermosillo last fall for the Opening Night of Hermosillo Naranjeros and returned again earlier this year for the Caribbean Series. The Caribbean Series was held at Estadio Sonora, the new ballpark that was built with the D-backs’ input on planning and construction. The ballpark includes several features that resemble the award-winning Spring Training home of the D-backs, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.
The D-backs have a long-standing history in Mexico, having played exhibition games in Hermosillo each spring from 2008-10. Hall sits on the Board of Directors of the Arizona-Mexico Commission and the organization worked closely with the World Baseball Classic to host the first round of the tournament in March. The game between Team Mexico and Team USA drew 44,256 fans, the highest attended game of the entire tournament.
Valle Del Sol is one of Arizona’s leading nonprofit organizations whose mission is to inspire positive change by investing in human services to strengthen families with tools and skills for self-sufficiency and by building the next generation of Latino and diverse leaders. The annual Profiles of Success event recognizes individuals for their service to community, advocacy and leadership. Profiles of Success is Valle Del Sol’s largest fundraiser supporting health care, behavioral health, human service and leadership development programs.
