MWL1 Quad Cities River Bandits

Bandits' Director of Community Relations Wins Deie Scholarship, Trip to New York City

April 8, 2014 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


DAVENPORT, Iowa (April 7, 2014) - For the second consecutive year, a Quad Cities River Bandits staff member has earned a Diversity Economic Impact Engagement (DEIE) Scholarship to attend the third annual MLB Diversity Business Summit in New York City, April 14-15. As one of the scholarship winners, Director of Community Relations Brittany Carter will receive a $2,000 stipend covering travel and expenses to New York, along with the opportunity to interact with movers and shakers in baseball at a special reception at Yankee Stadium, in addition to tickets to the April 15 Jackie Robinson Day game between the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees.

Major League Baseball and the New York Yankees are co-hosting the MLB Diversity Business Summit at the Manhattan Center and the New Yorker Hotel. The event is a sports employment and business opportunity career and trade fair with job seekers, entrepreneurs and executives from Major and Minor League Clubs, as well as MLB media entities.

"Helping African-Americans and Latinos increase their opportunities to succeed in our country is extremely important to the River Bandits," said team owner Dave Heller. "We are proud to be a leader in this respect, employing more African-Americans at a director level than any other team in our league last season, and we will continue to push forward with these efforts. That's why we are so pleased to be able to have our second DEIE Scholarship winner in the past two years - an honor no other Minor League team in the country can boast!"

Carter, a Davenport native and Iowa State University alumna, is in her fourth season with the River Bandits, and fifth in baseball overall. She has directed the community relations department for the River Bandits since 2012. In that time, the organization has nearly doubled its annual cash and in-kind donations to more than $250,000 in 2013. The team's Autism Awareness Photo Jersey Auction also won a 2013 Golden Bobblehead Award for the Best Charity Promotion or Event in Minor League Baseball. Within the last two years, the Bandit Scholars Program added a second scholarship, expanded to include students from eight Quad Cities-area counties and forged a new partnership with the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend. The team also added an annual Race to Home 5K fundraiser for the Bandit Scholars Program. Furthermore, the River Bandits have tripled their number of annual community appearances, grown the Book Buddies reading program to more than 15,000 participants and 64 schools, and hosted or supported numerous local charitable and community events at Modern Woodmen Park and throughout the region.

"My goal has been to push myself and the River Bandits organization to bigger and better work all across this great community, and I am grateful for this tremendous opportunity offered by the DEIE Scholarship," Carter said. "I am excited to represent the Quad Cities among some of the best in the baseball business at the MLB Diversity Business Summit, and return with knowledge and experience to benefit our team and this wonderful community."

In 2013, River Bandits intern Duraunte Cutts earned the DEIE Scholarship and attended the second annual MLB Diversity Business Summit in Houston, where Quad Cities was one of six Minor League Baseball teams represented. The opportunity led to Cutts accepting a full-time position in the ticket sales department of the Houston Astros, the River Bandits' major league affiliate.

UP NEXT: The second annual River Bandits Race to Home 5K and Kids Fun Run presented by Palmer Chiropractic Clinics is Saturday at 8 a.m. Thursday is the last day to register using the link at www.riverbandits.com. All proceeds benefit the Bandit Scholars Program. To order any of the 2014 ticket plans - with new lower prices - call the River Bandits box office at 563-324-3000. Season ticket and mini-plan packages start at just seven games and begin at less than $40. Call a River Bandits account representative today to choose your seats and get the details of our various mini-plan packages.

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Midwest League Stories from April 8, 2014


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