Archives for June 2020

Brandywine Valley SPCA To Host Second Drive-thru Pet Food Pantry at Frawley Stadium

 

Wilmington, DE – The Brandywine Valley SPCA (BVSPCA) has teamed up with Terra Technical Services again to hold a second drive-thru pet food pantry at Frawley Stadium to help families financially impacted by COVID-19.

Free pet food will be distributed at Frawley Stadium’s drive-thru pet food pantry as follows:

Friday, June 12 – 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Daniel S. Frawley Stadium
801 Shipyard Dr.
Wilmington, DE

The Brandywine Valley SPCA has held six drive-thru pet food pantries to date, helping more than 1,200 families. The drive-thru format requires participants to arrive in a vehicle, where they should remain while BVSPCA staff requests, from a 6-foot distance, information on the household pets then loads the pet food into the trunk or hatchback. Food will be available for cats and dogs while supplies last. Food storage and transport has been generously provided by Terra, along with collaboration on pantry logistics.

“The number of families struggling financially right now is staggering,” said Adam Lamb, BVSPCA CEO. “They need their family pets now more than ever, so we’re providing free pet food at our shelters and drive-thru pantries to alleviate some of that financial pressure and do all we can so families don’t have to give up the cat or dog they love simply because they can’t afford food.”

The Wilmington Blue Rocks are proud to support the efforts.

“Our community continues to come together in a time of great need, and the Blue Rocks are very proud of our role in that process,” said Blue Rocks General Manager Andrew Layman. “Anything we can do to assist in the prevention of suffering for anyone or anything is our top priority, and this event is going to help a lot of wonderful pets and their families. We are grateful to all who can help as well as the Brandywine Valley SPCA for the hard work they’ve poured into making these pet food pantries possible.”

The Brandywine Valley SPCA has distributed more than 70,000 pounds of pet food since the start of the pandemic. The 35 tons of food has been distributed at drive-thru pet food pantries as well as expanded pet food pantry hours at their shelters (Tuesday-Friday 12pm-6pm, Saturday-Sunday 11am-5pm).

The Brandywine Valley SPCA welcomes donations from the community to continue to supply pet food to families in need. Those donations will be matched by a generous grant from the Petco Foundation up to $25,000 through June 30 when made at the following link: https://bvspca.org/petcomatch/

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Dunedin Blue Jays Raise Over $1,800 for Dunedin Cares Inc.

 

DUNEDIN, FL – The Dunedin Blue Jays Band Together Against Hunger campaign concluded on May 31st benefiting Dunedin Cares Inc. The campaign was a massive success raising $1,865 for Dunedin Cares Inc. over the entire month of May with all donations received going directly to the food pantry. The Dunedin Blue Jays will in turn be donating over 180 tickets to a future Dunedin Blue Jays game for essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Dunedin community.

Coordinator of Community Relations, Matt Woak commented on the success of the campaign stating, “The Dunedin Blue Jays organization appreciates the outpouring of support from our fan base in helping the local Dunedin community. We are certain these donations raised will give a much-needed boost to Dunedin Cares Inc. during these difficult times of the pandemic. Our organization also looks forward to hosting essential workers at a future Dunedin Blue Jays game to thank them for their dedication to our community in this time of need.”

Dunedin Cares Inc. President, Joe Mackin echoed these sentiments saying, “Dunedin Cares Food Pantry is grateful for the partnership with our hometown baseball team, the Dunedin Blue Jays. The Jays chose us to as the local non-profit to benefit from the community donations and in turn, the Blue Jays are donating over 180 baseball tickets to those workers in the front lines of helping and serving others. This togetherness is all about neighbors helping neighbors.”

ABOUT DUNEDIN BLUE JAYS

The Dunedin Blue Jays have been the Class A-Advanced Minor League affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays since 1987. Dunedin, Florida is also the home of Toronto Blue Jays Spring Training. The Dunedin Blue Jays are committed to enriching the lives of those in our local community by giving back to organizations. Through various community initiatives, we are striving to enrich the lives of our neighbors and those in need through the power of Dunedin Blue Jays baseball by promotion of education, health, and baseball within our local communities.

ABOUT DUNEDIN CARES INC.

Our goal is to ensure that our neighbors in Dunedin & surrounding communities have a caring and respectful environment to shop our pantry shelves and provide food for their families. We believe in Neighbors Helping Neighbors. Dunedin Cares, Inc. Food Pantry opened our doors on November 12, 2015. Statistics indicated that even in our delightful city of Dunedin, Florida, there were pockets of people who are “food insecure”, where children go to bed hungry and elderly choose to purchase their medication over food.

The Ballpark at Jackson to Host High School Baseball Tournaments

 

JACKSON, TN – Baseball is set to make its return to The Ballpark at Jackson, as the Jackson Generals announced Monday a partnership with Net Elite Baseball and Pastime Tournaments, which will bring high school tournaments to town over the summer. Tournament dates range from June 11th through August 2nd, and team registration is now available.

“The Generals are pleased to enter into a partnership with Net Elite Baseball and Pastime Tournaments and host baseball tournaments at The Ballpark at Jackson,” said Jackson Generals GM Marcus Sabata. “With the Minor League Baseball season in doubt, we were not going to let this beautiful ballpark sit idle this summer. If things change and we do play Minor League Baseball, then we will adjust, but until then, we look forward to hosting some of the best high school teams the region has to offer.”

In lieu of the temporarily suspended minor league season, the Generals recently repurposed to The Ballpark for outside community events, including Madison Academic and Liberty Tech High School graduations on May 21st. The Ballpark is scheduled to host a Father’s Day movie event on June 20th, plus the much-anticipated Snoop Dogg Concert on July 20th. The ball club hopes that the influx of hundreds of high school games between the Ballpark and the neighboring Sportsplex will provide the area with an entertainment resurgence.

“We believe that the ballpark is a great community asset and we will continue to be creative in providing entertainment events that appeal to Jackson and West Tennessee,” said Sabata.

Tournament dates and corresponding registration links are below:

– June 11th-14th (Net Elite HS Tournament): https://netelitesports.com/jackson-generals-summer-event-1/

– June 18th-21st (Pastime HS Tournament): https://pastimetournaments.com/team-event/?eid=2260

– June 25th-28th (Net Elite HS Tournament): https://netelitesports.com/jackson-generals-summer-event-2/

– July 2nd-5th (Pastime HS Tournament): https://pastimetournaments.com/team-event/?eid=2261

– July 9th-12th (Net Elite HS Tournament): https://netelitesports.com/jackson-generals-summer-event-3/

– July 16th-19th (Net Elite HS Tournament): https://netelitesports.com/jackson-generals-summer-event-4/

– July 23rd- 26th (Pastime HS Tournament): https://pastimetournaments.com/team-event/?eid=2262

– July 31st-Aug. 2nd (Net Elite HS Tournament): https://netelitesports.com/jackson-generals-summer-event-5/

For more information on Net Elite and Pastime Tournaments visit https://netelitesports.com/ & https://pastimetournaments.com/.

ABOUT THE GENERALS

The Jackson Generals, a West Tennessee franchise since 1998, are the Double-A minor league affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Generals play at The Ballpark at Jackson, Tennessee’s 2017 & 2018 Pro Sports Field of the Year. For more information, call 731-988-5299 or visit JacksonGeneralsBaseball.com.

RiverDogs release expanded summer camp offerings, starting June 16, with capacity restrictions and new protocols 

 

With the start of the 2020 baseball season still delayed, the RiverDogs today announced the expansion of its Youth Summer Camps, presented by Fins Car Wash, along with new restrictions and protocols to keep campers safe in light of COVID-19 precautions.

The team will begin a six-week slate of summer camps on Tuesday, June 16, with Week 1 of its youth baseball camp, which takes place on the green grass of Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. RiverDogs director of community outreach Chris Singleton and his team will lead five weeks of baseball camp in June and July, and the RiverDogs have added a one-week, limited-time culinary camp in July with chef and VP of food and beverage Josh Shea. Singleton is a former standout outfielder at Goose Creek High School, Charleston Southern University and in the Chicago Cub’’ minor league system.

All RiverDogs summer camps are sponsored by Fins Car Wash, which has open locations in Mt. Pleasant, West Ashley and North Charleston.

“We’re thrilled to be launching our 2020 summer camps,” said RiverDogs president Dave Echols. “This has been an abnormal year for everyone, and it’ll be great to see kids on the field at The Joe again before long.”

Both versions of the camp will be different than past years in order to keep campers safe. The baseball camps will be limited to just 40 campers, which will be split into four groups of 10, which will each remain separate from the others. The culinary camp is limited to 15 campers. In addition, new drop-off procedures and counselor interaction guidelines are in place to limit exposure and spread of COVID-19. The RiverDogs’ policies have been adapted from the City of Charleston Recreation Department’s guidelines for its own summer camps.

The baseball camps include stations in hitting, pitching, base running, speed and agility, warm-up and stretching, and fundamentals. The camp takes place in weekly sessions from 8:30am-12:30pm Tuesday-Friday. The camp is open to campers aged 6-13. Weekly registration is $250 per camper; individual day sessions can also be purchased for $70 each.

The new culinary camp taps into the RiverDogs’ strong food and beverage history with Shea, who will conduct the camp out of the Segra Club at Riley Park. The one-week camp will go from 8:30am to 12::30pm each day from Monday, July 13 through Friday, July 17. Each day will start with proper station set-up, include basic cooking skills, and conclude with a new lunch dish, which the campers will dine on. Culinary camp is $300 per camper for the week.

“I’m excited to share my passion for cooking with kids in the Lowcountry,” Shea said. “Our culinary operation at the ballpark goes way beyond hot dogs and soda, and I’m excited to pull back the curtains.”

Registration is now live at RiverDogs.com for the following sessions, each running 8:30am to 12:30pm:

  • Baseball Camp – Week 1 (June 16-19)
  • Baseball Camp – Week 2 (June 23-26)
  • Baseball Camp – Week 3 (July 7-10)
  • Culinary Camp – Week 1 (July 13-17)
  • Baseball Camp – Week 4 (July 21-24)
  • Baseball Camp – Week 5 (July 28-31)

IronPigs to host Pet Food Drive on June 6

 

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs and Valley Central Veterinary Referral and Emergency Center are partnering to hold a Pet Food Drive on Saturday, June 6 from 9-11 a.m. at Coca-Cola Park. Guests will need to RSVP to receive pet food. Courtesy of Valley Central Veterinary Referral and Emergency Center, 200 bags of pet food will be provided at no charge for families and pet owners facing hardships. There is a limited supply – a first-come, first-served basis will be based on the RSVP responses.

CLICK HERE TO RSVP

“COVID-19 has impacted everyone, including pet owners and their pets,” said IronPigs President and General Manager Kurt Landes. “Pets are a part of many families and this event provides an opportunity for families in need to help feed their pets while reducing their own financial stress.”

Guests need to RSVP and specify which type of food they need clicking here. Guests will be able to select either dog or cat food plus canned or bagged dry food. Based on the type of food needed, guests will be given a specific time frame to arrive at Coca-Cola Park within the 9-11 a.m. pick-up window.

Upon arrival, guests will be directed by IronPigs staff members to the pick-up area outside the West Ballpark entrance. Guests will need to show their confirmation for pick-up and must remain in their vehicle. They are to pop open their trunk for an IronPigs or Valley Central Veterinary Referral and Emergency Center staff member to place their food. Staff members will be wearing protective masks and following all social distancing guidelines.

The 2020 IronPigs season is the team’s 13th at Coca-Cola Park. Follow the IronPigs on Twitter and like them on Facebook.