Josh Bell, who has boosted his community service this year in response to the nation’s current state of social unrest, is the Pittsburgh Pirates’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award.

The award annually recognizes an MLB player who best represents baseball through Clemente’s character, community involvement, philanthropy and contributions, on and off the field.

Bell is one of 30 nominees, one from each MLB team.

This year, his community involvement has created a series on social media with the hashtag #SocialReformSunday while hoping other players join the initiative.

Bell partnered with the Pirates to launch a social media video series entitled “Building Bridges,” highlighting a different Pirates player, coach or staff member each Sunday who can speak out on issues of social reform and racial injustice.

He led an interactive video conference call with young people from the Pirates RBI program and joined Rabbi Ron Symons of the Jewish Community Center of Pittsburgh’s “Center for Loving Kindness” for a community conversation. He also partnered with the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s virtual book club and moderated a discussion on Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.”

For the past four years, Bell has helped raise money for the Dreambuilders Foundation, an initiative that provides backpacks filled with food to underserved school children to take home over the weekend. He is host for an annual dinner to support the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

“Honestly, words can’t really describe what he does,” Pirates rookie pitcher JT Brubaker said. “He’s above and beyond anything. He’s overall a great human being and a great teammate.”

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