Schwarber presented with 2025 PSWA Humanitarian Award Wednesday at CBP
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Sports Writers Association presented Kyle Schwarber with his 2025 Ed Snider Humanitarian of the Year Award late Wednesday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies game against the Washington Nationals.
Schwarber, who hammered his ninth home run of the season in his first at-bat of the game to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning of Wednesday night’s 7-2 win, was unable to attend the 120th Philadelphia Sports Writers Association Banquet back in January but accepted the award via a video speech that evening (the video can be found at the bottom of this post).
“I can’t tell you how much this means to me,” the 32-year-old Schwarber said Wednesday. “I really appreciate this recognition and to be able to spread the word about what we’re doing with the Neighborhood Heroes program. We really try and do our best to recognize the efforts of all of our amazing first responders and military personnel.”
LEARN MORE ABOUT KYLE SCHWARBER’S NEIGHBORHOOD HEROES PROGRAM – CLICK HERE.
Outgoing PSWA president Mike Luongo and incoming president Mike Shute met with Schwarber after the Phillies finished batting practice and chatted about Schwarber’s Neighborhood Heroes program which Kyle established in 2017 when he was with the Chicago Cubs to “express gratitude for the unique sacrifices of first responders and their families by creating positive experiences, as well as funding wellness, education and crisis needs for first-responder families.” The organization has raised more than $1 million since it started but has raised more than $600,000 since Schwarber arrived in Philadelphia prior to the 2022 season.
The non-profit organization has awarded grants to other organizations like the Philadelphia Police and Fire Department Foundations, Families Behind the Badge Children’s Foundation, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), Team Foster and the USO.
Just this week, Schwarber and his family spent Tuesday afternoon with firefighters and first responders at Ladder 19 and Engine 60, as part of his Neighborhood Heroes program (see pics below). And he’ll host his Schwarber’s Neighborhood Heroes Block Party on June 11 at 6:30 p.m. at Yards Brewing, 500 Spring Garden Street in Philadelphia. You can get your tickets to this very special fundraising event by clicking here.
Establishing this charitable organization is something that comes from a place of personal experience for the Phillies designated hitter. His father, Greg, was a police officer, and eventually a police chief, for more than 30 years in Middletown, OH. His mother, Donna, was a registered nurse and had previously been a police dispatcher. Plus, Kyle’s sister, Lindsey, was in the Army National Guard and also became a member of the Middletown Police Department.
“You want to impact your community, not just in terms of playing baseball, but you can give people a little bit of an inside look of you away from baseball and things that you’re passionate about and really care for,” Schwarber told MLB.com in September 2024.
Schwarber told the MLB Network’s program, MLB Central in September 2024: “You get a very unique opportunity to meet a lot of individuals who, for one: it might not be a great time in their lives. And, two: You get to make a positive impact on them and you don’t know if that’s going to last for a day, a week, a month, a year or a lifetime.
“The sacrifices you see first responders and military personnel make on a daily basis are massive. But the unsung heroes of it all are the family members, the spouses who keep everything locked down at home, making sure the kids are where they need to be when they need to be there. I was one of the lucky kids growing up, where my dad came home. There’s a lot of families out there who aren’t that lucky so to be able to play a supporting role and create positive experiences is important.”
Here’s the video submitted by Schwarber and the Phillies accepting his Ed Snider Humanitarian Award from the 120th PSWA Banquet in January.