Sheetz and the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday launched a new charitable initiative for the 2026 season called "Home Runz for Hunger," pledging to turn long balls at PNC Park into meals for local residents. Under the program, Sheetz will donate $100 to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank for every home run hit by the Pirates at PNC Park during the 2026 season. The campaign begins today with the Pirates' home opener against the Baltimore Orioles.
Each $100 donation, the organizations said, will allow the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to provide roughly 300 meals, meaning each Pirate home run at PNC Park will translate into about 300 meals for people in the region. The activation is part of Sheetz’s expanding partnership with the Pirates; the 2026 season marks the first year the company is serving as the club’s official home run activation partner, building on a relationship that began in 2024.
The campaign ties a visible, game-day statistic to a concrete local outcome, turning fan excitement into a measurable boost to area food assistance. By limiting donations to homers hit at PNC Park, the activation explicitly links in-stadium moments to the fundraising, giving home-game fans a direct line of sight to the program’s impact.
The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank distributes food across southwestern Pennsylvania and works with a network of partners to reach residents in need; the Home Runz for Hunger program will add a new private-sector funding stream targeted at hunger relief during the baseball season. While the Pirates and Sheetz did not release a projection for total expected contributions, the per-homer metric provides a straightforward way for supporters to track the campaign as the season progresses.
The initiative was first reported by Beaver County Radio’s Noah Haswell. As the season unfolds, the Home Runz for Hunger program will be one of several community-focused promotions between professional sports teams and corporate partners that seek to leverage athletic milestones for charitable giving.