ST. LOUIS - Two America East athletes, one former and one current, will be honored prior to Tuesday's Major League Baseball All-Star Game as part of MLB's and People Magazine's “All-Stars Among Us” program, which will honor 30 individuals who have made incredible contributions to their communities. The ceremony will air on FOX at approximately 8 p.m. EDT.
Rob Dixon, a 1983 New Hampshire graduate, will be recognized as the Boston Red Sox representative, while Michael Pesci, a rising sophomore on UMBC's baseball team, is the New York Yankees honoree along with his sister, Christina.
A native of Dorchester, Mass., Dixon runs Project RISE, a nonprofit organization that provides an academic summer camp for at-risk African American children from Boston. While high school graduation rates for students in Dixon's hometown hover around 50 percent, 96 percent of Project RISE participants graduate from high school and over 170 students have attended four-year colleges, with most them being the first in their family to attend college. An all-conference selection in 1983, Dixon poured in 1,590 points in his four years in Durham and still ranks among the Top 30 all-time America East scorers.
Pesci, who made nine appearances on the mound for UMBC during his freshman season, is the founder of Perfect Pitch HRD Inc., a nonprofit organization which has raised $175,000 for mentally and physically handicapped children and young adults. Many former Major Leaguers have worked with the organization, including Yankee greats Don Larsen, Yogi Berra and Don Mattingly. Christina is president of Bridging the Generation Gap, an outreach organization which promotes friendship between young people and senior citizens.
The “All-Stars Among Us” campaign recognizes individuals who are serving their communities in extraordinary ways and is central to the 2009 MLB All-Star Summer program dedicated to charitable initiatives and recognition of the important role of community service.
Information from UMBC Athletic Communications and New Hampshire Athletic Media Relations was used in this report