Throughout his career, Ripken has contributed his time and money to numerous charitable organizations.
Following the signing of his new contract in 1984, Ripken announced he would distribute 1984 Orioles tickets to underprivileged children in Harford County, donate to the Harford Center, and donate to the Baltimore School for the Performing Arts.
In 1988, he and wife Kelly founded the Cal Ripken Jr., Lifelong Learning Center, which is dedicated to teaching adults to read.
In 1992, MLB recognized him with the Roberto Clemente Award.
In 1997, Ripken received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.

Ripken has made donations to many various charitable causes, including donations supporting research on Lou Gehrig's disease.
After he broke Gehrig's record, the Orioles, along with private donors, created the Cal Ripken/Lou Gehrig Fund for Neuromuscular Research at Johns Hopkins University.
Along with his brother Billy, he formed the Cal Ripken Sr.,
Foundation in 2001 to give underprivileged children the opportunity to attend baseball camps around the country and learn the game.
The Foundation is a branch of Ripken Baseball.
In addition to controlling these camps and Ripken's minor league teams, Ripken Baseball operates for-profit camps and designs ballfields for youth, college, and professional teams.
He gives speeches about his time in baseball and some of the lessons he has learned.
Between 2001 and 2004, inclusive, Ripken served as commissioner of the White House Tee Ball Initiative of President George W. Bush, in which capacity he worked to promote the value of teamwork amongst players and volunteership amongst the public and helped to teach tee ball fundamentals to teams of children at the White House.

In 2007, Ripken, along with Andre Agassi, Muhammad Ali, Lance Armstrong, Warrick Dunn, Mia Hamm, Jeff Gordon, Tony Hawk, Andrea Jaeger, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Mario Lemieux, and Alonzo Mourning founded Athletes for Hope, a charitable organization, which helps professional athletes get involved in charitable causes and inspires millions of non-athletes to volunteer and support the community.
Ripken also announced a partnership with Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities, with the donation of US$1 million in cash and equipment from the Cal Ripken Sr.
Foundation.

On August 13, 2007, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced that Ripken had been named Special Sports Envoy for the US State Department and that he would be going to China in October: "... we're just delighted that somebody of Cal Ripken's stature is going to be someone who will go out and represent America so well and represent what we consider to be American values, but universal values; that hard work and diligence and the willingness to really put it all on the line every day is something that kids need to learn", said Rice. "
A Shortstop in China" premiered on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network on May 8, 2009, chronicling Ripken's trip to China to share the game of baseball with youth and coaches while nurturing American-Chinese diplomacy.
The documentary included footage from the 11 clinics Cal and former Oriole B.J. Surhoff held from Beijing to Guangzhou.
The documentary also showed Ripken accepting his appointment from Rice and featured a variety of interviews, from Ripken's wife Kelly to former Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Karen Hughes.

On May 31, 2008, Ripken received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from the University of Delaware and served as the university's commencement speaker.
On May 19, 2013 Ripken received an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from the University of Maryland while serving as the university's general commencement speaker.

In an interview with Ray Robinson, Ripken said, "My personal philosophy is to get a feeling of fulfillment through my work.
I have a desire to create something.
I guess that's why I've long been fascinated by two books, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged [both by Ayn Rand].
The leading figure in 'The Fountainhead,' an architect named Howard Roark, i
Throughout his career, Ripken has contributed his time and money to numerous charitable organizations. Following the signing of his new contract in 1984, Ripken announced he would distribute 1984 Orioles tickets to underprivileged children in Harford County, donate to the Harford Center, and donate to the Baltimore School for the Performing Arts. In 1988, he and wife Kelly founded the Cal Ripken Jr., Lifelong Learning Center, which is dedicated to teaching adults to read. In 1992, MLB recognized him with the Roberto Clemente Award. In 1997, Ripken received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.
Ripken has made donations to many various charitable causes, including donations supporting research on Lou Gehrig's disease. After he broke Gehrig's record, the Orioles, along with private donors, created the Cal Ripken/Lou Gehrig Fund for Neuromuscular Research at Johns Hopkins University. Along with his brother Billy, he formed the Cal Ripken Sr., Foundation in 2001 to give underprivileged children the opportunity to attend baseball camps around the country and learn the game. The Foundation is a branch of Ripken Baseball. In addition to controlling these camps and Ripken's minor league teams, Ripken Baseball operates for-profit camps and designs ballfields for youth, college, and professional teams. He gives speeches about his time in baseball and some of the lessons he has learned. Between 2001 and 2004, inclusive, Ripken served as commissioner of the White House Tee Ball Initiative of President George W. Bush, in which capacity he worked to promote the value of teamwork amongst players and volunteership amongst the public and helped to teach tee ball fundamentals to teams of children at the White House.
In 2007, Ripken, along with Andre Agassi, Muhammad Ali, Lance Armstrong, Warrick Dunn, Mia Hamm, Jeff Gordon, Tony Hawk, Andrea Jaeger, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Mario Lemieux, and Alonzo Mourning founded Athletes for Hope, a charitable organization, which helps professional athletes get involved in charitable causes and inspires millions of non-athletes to volunteer and support the community. Ripken also announced a partnership with Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities, with the donation of US$1 million in cash and equipment from the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation.
On August 13, 2007, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced that Ripken had been named Special Sports Envoy for the US State Department and that he would be going to China in October: "... we're just delighted that somebody of Cal Ripken's stature is going to be someone who will go out and represent America so well and represent what we consider to be American values, but universal values; that hard work and diligence and the willingness to really put it all on the line every day is something that kids need to learn", said Rice. "A Shortstop in China" premiered on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network on May 8, 2009, chronicling Ripken's trip to China to share the game of baseball with youth and coaches while nurturing American-Chinese diplomacy. The documentary included footage from the 11 clinics Cal and former Oriole B.J. Surhoff held from Beijing to Guangzhou. The documentary also showed Ripken accepting his appointment from Rice and featured a variety of interviews, from Ripken's wife Kelly to former Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Karen Hughes.
On May 31, 2008, Ripken received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from the University of Delaware and served as the university's commencement speaker. On May 19, 2013 Ripken received an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from the University of Maryland while serving as the university's general commencement speaker.
In an interview with Ray Robinson, Ripken said, "My personal philosophy is to get a feeling of fulfillment through my work. I have a desire to create something. I guess that's why I've long been fascinated by two books, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged [both by Ayn Rand]. The leading figure in 'The Fountainhead,' an architect named Howard Roark, i
Cal Ripken Jr.