Baseball All-Star David Ortiz Teams Up With State Farm(R) for National Citizenship Day

Posted on: September 10th, 2008
Filed Under: Blogante Business, Business, People, Press Releases, Sports
Tags: Baseball, State Farm

In celebration of National Citizenship Day, Wednesday, September 17th, legendary slugger David Ortiz is joining forces with State Farm to assist legally documented Latinos who want to become U.S. Citizens. Born in the Dominican Republic, the five-time All Star took the Oath of Citizenship on June 11, 2008 in Dorchester, Mass.

“The United States is a great country and I’m proud to be a citizen,” said David Ortiz. “My family cheered me on every step of the way. Now it is my turn to help others who share the dream of becoming a citizen.”

Ortiz spoke about his personal citizenship story during a satellite media tour yesterday targeted toward Hispanic media. “As a new citizen, I appreciate what it means to be an American — the freedom we enjoy, the opportunity we have, and representative government,” said Ortiz

“In baseball you need courage, confidence and perseverance and the same is true with becoming a citizen,” said Aymee Ruiz, corporate public affairs at State Farm. “David is a great role model for Latinos and National Citizenship Day is a way for all of us to honor those who have become citizens through the naturalization process.”

State Farm is one of the lead sponsors of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) Ya Es Hora (It’s Time) national civic engagement campaign to inform, educate and motivate Latinos to participate in America’s democracy. NALEO’s efforts include providing eligible permanent residents with information about applying for U.S. citizenship, assisting U.S. citizens in registering to vote and encouraging people to vote and be active in the civic affairs of their community.

State Farm’s extensive relationships with and outreach to the Latino community also includes a new public affairs campaign, State Farm Es Para Mi(TM). In addition to supporting the Ya Es Hora campaign, State Farm is using the offices of its agents with bilingual (Spanish and English) capability to serve as clearinghouses for citizenship and voter registration information, as well as information about scholarship and internship opportunities for Latino students.

“The State Farm Es Para Mi(TM) campaign underscores the importance of culture, education, and citizenship in the Latino community,” says Ruiz. “Through this campaign State Farm’s participating bilingual agencies serve as a trusted resource, helping to meet the needs of the fast-growing Latino community in the United States.” To find a participating agent, call
1-877- 564-3119.

About State Farm:
State Farm(R) insures more cars and homes than any other insurer in the U.S., is the leading insurer of watercraft and is also a leading insurer in Canada. State Farm’s 17,000 agents and 67,000 employees serve over 77 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and more than 1.9 million bank accounts. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 32 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit statefarm.com(R) or in Canada statefarm.ca(R). “