On Saturday, Oct. 24, the Rays hosted Kid Fest for our neighbors in South St. Petersburg. The Rays invited our neighbors over to Tropicana Field for an afternoon of games, giveaways, entertainment, and food.
Rays centerfielder B.J. Upton made a special guest appearance for the kids. Upton was the designated pitcher for a game of wiffle ball and later played quarterback for a pickup football game.
Kids and parents participated in interactive Rays baseball games, carnival games, enjoyed balloon artists, face painters, cartoon drawlers, live entertainment, wiffle ball, football and more.
Ben Zobrist and Jason Bartlett visited the Kenneth City Sweetbay Supermarket on Aug. 20 to help promote/draw awareness to the "Sweetbay Double Play Promotion." Starting with the Aug. 7 game in Seattle, for the first Rays double play of every game, Sweetbay Supermarket will donate $400 to America's Second Harvest of Tampa Bay for a brand new kids café.
Matt Joyce and Grant Balfour joined youth from around the area to participate in the last day of camp at Community Tampa Bay's Camp Anytown. Camp Anytown is week long experience that unites high school aged kids around Tampa Bay and focuses on youth leadership and diversity awareness. Balfour and Joyce heard from the kids about what they had learned throughout the week, signed autographs, took pictures, and even participated in an interactive song and dance that fused the enthusiasm of the students with the mission of the program.
Community Tampa Bay promotes dialogue and respect among all cultures, religions and races through education, advocacy and conflict mediation. Community Tampa Bay received one of the Rays Baseball Foundation's 2008 All Star Grants.
Rays outfielder Fernando Perez, currently recovering from a wrist injury, helped kick off the Rays Summer Reading program by reading to youngsters at the Town and Country Regional Library in Tampa. Aimed at encouraging third, fourth and fifth graders in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Pasco Counties to read more this summer, the program is run in conjunction with the Helios Education Foundation and the St. Petersburg Times Reading in Education program.
On May 2, the Tampa Bay Rays participated in the state-wide Challenger Little League Jamboree held in Clearwater. Rays players Chad Bradford, Grant Balfour, Fernando Perez and Dan Wheeler were on hand to participate in the festivities. All four players signed autographs, took photos, and helped coach as over 200 youth from around the state participated in this annual event. The day which was highlighted by the Rays players' appearance also included an appearance by Rays mascot Raymond, face painters, jump houses, a dunk tank as well as closing ceremonies and a dinner banquet.
The Rays visited the Brookville area on Friday, May 1, where Shawn Riggans made an appearance on affiliate radio, WWJB 1450AM, followed by an appearance at MetroPCS on Cortez Blvd. The Rays street team also visited area Little League fields making lasting impacts on the community of Brooksville, Fla.
On April 30, Rays outfielder Fernando Perez took part in the 'Opening Doors for Children' program put on by Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation Inc. The program encourages its law firm's volunteers and other mentors to promote reading and literacy to children throughout the area. Perez was on hand to share experiences of learning with the children as well as read a few baseball themed stories with the students in attendance.
The Rays brought the magic of baseball to Lakeland for their Lakeland Community Day on Friday, April 17. The day included outfielder Fernando Perez's appearance on the Rays radio affiliate WONN and promotional partner, WPCV, as well as an autograph session at Smokey Bones in Lakeland. The Rays continued their impact on the Lakeland community by making an appearance at Highland Groves Elementary for their Spring Fling.
The Tampa Bay Rays will be holding their Brooksville Day on Friday, May 1 -- stay tuned for more information regarding this event.
Rays outfielder Matt Joyce took time out of his busy Spring Training schedule for a very special appearance at North Brandon Little League. Joyce attended North Brandon Little League's Opening Day Celebrations along with Rays mascot Raymond.
Joyce, a product of N. Brandon Little League, greeted each team during a league parade and took a memorable photo with each team before speaking to the players and parents about the importance of working hard and staying focused. Matt then threw out the official first pitch of the 2009 season, Matt's Dad was on hand to catch and partake in festivities as Matt's jersey number '20' was retired.
On Thursday, Jan. 22, Rays All-Star Catcher Dioner Navarro, his wife Sherley and Rays radio broadcaster Andy Freed visited Orange Ridge-Bullock Elementary School in Manatee County. The visit was to launch a county-wide program called Rays Baseball Math. They visited Miss Hansing's kindergarten class where Dioner read "I Can Play Baseball" to start the visit.
Andy, Dioner and Sherley helped the children with a group baseball math activity. The baseball math program uses baseball concepts and statistics to make learning math fun. After they visited with the class there was a special assembly with the entire school in the auditorium. The elementary school sang "Take me out to the Ballgame" for the Rays guests!
Community