Drive continue to make impact in South Carolina

Summer nights at Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina, have the feel of a large neighborhood gathering with the beautiful 15-year-old facility serving as the “front porch” of the Greater Greenville and Upstate South Carolina area.

And while the coronavirus pandemic has prevented local fans from being able to support the Drive on the field in 2020, the team has not wavered from its commitment to the community, hosting the Underground Kitchen Community First Project, which provided nearly 1,000 free meals to those in need over three days in June.

For their efforts in the community, the Drive are the recipients of the Minor League Baseball Promotion of the Month Award for June.

“We’ve always prided ourselves on our work in the Greenville and Upstate area, but without baseball games this year, we really decided to double down on our efforts in the community and really try to wrap our arms around those who are struggling and help in any way we can,” said Drive General Manager Eric Jarinko. “We had to get creative and find ways where we could utilize our staff and really help as many people as we could.”

While the team had previously volunteered with FoodShare South Carolina, an organization that provides access to fresh produce to those in need, Jarinko said a conversation with volunteer Marylou Stinson got the ball rolling on what became a “no-brainer” of an event.

A suggestion by Stinson led the Drive and FoodShare South Carolina to combine forces with a Richmond, Virginia-based organization called the Underground Kitchen. The goal of the Underground Kitchen is to provide a diverse group of chefs, who are typically from places underrepresented in the culinary world, the opportunity to share their creative talents and tastes to create soups and meals for those in need.

“The Underground Kitchen had been looking to expand the scope of its program and FoodShare South Carolina has been expanding their efforts across the state so teaming up with the Drive was a perfect way to help a large number of people,” said Stinson. “The Drive were on board and had their entire staff leading the way. They were just tremendous.”

The Drive opened the kitchens at Fluor Field and the team’s Executive Chef, Wilbert Sauceda, himself a native of Honduras and a veteran of the restaurant business, helped coordinate efforts to produce nearly 1,000 free meals in just two days. Much of the food was donated by the Mill Village, a non-profit organization in Greenville that features food products from local farmers.

With the food preparation underway, the Drive relied on FoodShare South Carolina to spread the word of the opportunity to families who were known to be in need that meals made from scratch would be available free of charge.

“Wilbert took the lead in the kitchen, and the rest of our staff utilized other parts of the ballpark like our season ticket holder lounge to package the meals and prepare for a drive-thru distribution point in the Fluor Field parking lot,” said Jarinko. “The fact that we were able to host the pickup event on such a somber anniversary day in our state’s history was very uplifting to a lot of people.”

The meals were distributed on the fifth anniversary of the horrific shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston that claimed nine lives. In honor of the Charleston Nine, meal recipients also received a white rose in their bag to signify forgiveness and rosemary to signify remembrance. The bags also came with a tag that included the names of the nine victims to serve as a reminder of the lives lost five years ago.

“I can’t say enough great things about the Greenville Drive and everyone there, including owner Craig Brown, as they have transformed the landscape in South Carolina of what it means to be a community partner and they push other organizations to do more,” said Stinson. “Their impact here has had a ripple effect across Upstate South Carolina, and we hold this team and its ownership group in the highest regard.”

For Jarinko, the event had an immediate impact that left the Drive staff motivated to do more.

“When all of the food had been distributed and the day was done, we all left saying this is an event we need to do every year and hopefully multiple times a year.”

With a record number of Americans struggling to make ends meet, the Drive continue to answer the call of those most in need. That is how you become the front porch of a community.