On November 16th, over 150 of Urban Impact’s supporting families, churches, foundations, and businesses gathered at Pittsburgh’s Grand Hall at the Priory for the 18th annual Play Ball for Kids Donor Appreciation dinner. This was the first time that the Play Ball for Kids sponsors had gathered in two years; everyone was very excited to fellowship with each other again! In the beginning years of the program, only sponsors who collaborated with the Pittsburgh Steelers were honored at this event. The event has now grown to celebrate not only the Play Ball for Kids sponsors, but also our other premier donors and supporters.
Once the dinner portion of the program began, five of our North Side students presented on stage alongside their Urban Missionary mentor. Each Urban Missionary introduced their student’s involvement in Urban Impact programming throughout the years and how God has blessed their relationship. Then each student shared how the Lord had impacted them and what they planned to do “when they grow up” – the cutest response was from a 4-year-old student that claimed he wanted to be a T-Rex! These stories were an impactful way to show how God has been working in our community for His glory!
This year we presented the Bob Scheidemantel Award to two dedicated volunteers, Nick and Lee-Ann Bruno. For more information on the Brunos, read our blog post “Award Winners: The Brunos”.
Traditionally, the Pittsburgh Steelers have played a large role in the Play Ball for Kids program from their involvement in the dinner to leading a football clinic for our students. Out of an abundance of caution, the Steelers were not in person with us during the dinner this year, however, in response to their support of Urban Impact, the players gathered the morning of the dinner to film their portion of the program. Kent Chevalier, the Pittsburgh Steelers chaplain, interviewed B.J. Finney, Alex Highsmith, and Kevin Colbert, General Manager of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Kevin shared about growing up on the North Side of Pittsburgh and how the neighborhood has grown over the years. Alex Highsmith and B.J. Finney spoke about their involvement with Urban Impact as well as their individual charity work that has impacted our city. Cam Heyward also filmed a video expressing his love and support of Pastor Ed and Urban Impact.
The night concluded with a performance from the Urban Impact Choir featuring a very talented soloist who was only 11 years old. This was a preview of the Light the Night show that would be occurring in a few weeks. The choir featured forty students and volunteers from the North Side of Pittsburgh that proclaimed the good news of Jesus’ birth!
Thank you to those who were able to join us this year and thank you to all our donors and volunteers for your continued support of Urban Impact!