HOUSTON, TX - During the course of the last month, several Astros players have stepped up to aid the Houston community and beyond during this unprecedented Coronavirus crisis. Astros players have been lending their voices, volunteering, and providing meals, supplies, equipment and financial assistance to healthcare workers, hospitals, and individuals suffering adverse effects from the global pandemic.

FEEDING OUR COMMUNITIES

As schools and workplaces have closed in the City of Houston, more individuals have turned to the Houston Food Bank for assistance. As the crisis began to unfold in Houston in March, Astros All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman quickly started assisting the community by donating funds towards 1,000 quarantine kits at the Houston Food Bank, a donation that provided the equivalent of 28,000 meals. Announced on March 14, Bregman was the first Major League player to make such a donation.

Bregman then went on to start FEEDHOU, a fundraising campaign to help feed Houston-area residents with a goal of raising $1 million, with all proceeds benefitting the Houston Food Bank. Bregman launched the campaign with a $100,000 donation of his own on April 10, and spent the day volunteering at the Houston Food Bank with his fiancée Reagan Howard.

Bregman's FEEDHOU campaign reached its $1 million goal today in just one week, thanks to many donations, including $100,000 contributions from both Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale and the Astros Foundation.

To make a contribution to FEEDHOU, visit: here.

After Bregman's initial donation of 28,000 meals to the Houston Food Bank, All-Star right-handed pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and his wife Kara McCullers followed Bregman with a donation of their own to the HFB, as he donated funds towards 10,000 meals.

All-Star Shortstop Carlos Correa created a partnership with NACC Disaster Services to deliver 2,500 meals per day to homeless, elderly and public employees throughout Houston during the crisis.

Astros All-Star Jose Altuve and his wife Nina Altuve announced a partnership with the Astros Foundation to provide 60,000 meals to Kids Meals Inc. to support children in need during the Coronavirus crisis.

2019 AL Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander joined 49 other Major League players to raise nearly $1 million, providing over four million meals to support childhood hunger prevention in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Verlander and players from all 30 MLB clubs personally reached out to each other to collect donations as part of the Home Plate Project, a partnership between Major League Baseball, Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation and Big League Impact.

PROVIDING ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT

Astros All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa, his wife Daniella, and The Correa Family Foundation partnered with Kindred Healthcare and NACC Disaster Services to provide a $500,000 donation to the City of Houston in the form of surgical equipment, exercise and rehabilitation machines, high-tech mannequins for CPR training, IV poles, chairs, cabinets, accessible toilets for disabled patients, and much more. When the pandemic is over in the United States, any of this equipment that does not get used will be donated to underequipped hospitals in the poorest regions of Central America.

This past week, the Correas along with Martín Maldonado and his wife, Janelise, teamed up with other Puerto Rican MLB players to create a partnership with Crane Worldwide Logistics to transport important disaster relief and medical supplies to Puerto Rico to assist with the COVID-19 crisis. The Astros Foundation and Crane Worldwide are covering 100% of the freight and transportation costs, as well as coordinating the logistics to get the much-needed medical supplies to Puerto Rico. Three ocean containers and three truckloads of supplies have already arrived in Puerto Rico, with a fourth container scheduled to ship next week. The coordination and distribution of the supplies are being managed by NACC Disaster Services.

SPONSORING MEALS FOR HEALTHCARE WORKERS

Many of the Astros players have come together over the last few weeks to provide meals for Houston's healthcare workers on the front lines battling the Coronavirus.

McCullers and Correa donated 85 Chipotle lunches to Houston Methodist Hospital workers at the ICU, emergency care, and newborn/birth wings of the hospital.

Bregman and Reagan Howard, donated 100 lunches, courtesy of The Moonshiners HTX, to employees at Houston Methodist Hospital.

Astros relief pitcher Joe Smith, along with his wife, Allie LaForce, teamed up with McCullers Jr. and his wife, Kara McCullers, to provide close to 500 meals to Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital in Harris County. The initiative was established through a partnership with Project FRONTLINE and Athletes and Causes. Smith and LaForce, who are natives of Ohio, also spearheaded a delivery of 300 meals to Mercy Hospital in Lorain, Ohio.

Today, Astros outfielder Josh Reddick and his wife, Jett Reddick, announced a donation to the Smith and McCullers Project FRONTLINE initiative, which will provide meals to healthcare workers at Texas Children's Hospital's West Campus and Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center.

To make a contribution to Project FRONTLINE, visit: here.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

The Astros part-time gameday staff at Minute Maid Park are essential to providing Astros fans with a positive customer experience during all 81 home games in a normal MLB season. With the postponement of the 2020 campaign, many of these individuals needed support. Astros All-Star center fielder George Springer, and his wife Charlise Springer, stepped up to this particular cause by donating $100,000, in addition to the $1,000,000 relief fund that the Astros created for their part-time employees who have been affected by the crisis.

Verlander and his wife, Kate Upton, announced that they will be donating each paycheck they receive from Major League Baseball while games are not being played towards organizations fighting the Coronavirus. Verlander and Upton will announce a new recipient organization each week. Last week, their first donation went to the Houston Food Bank. Today, they announced donations to multiple organizations in Detroit which will provide masks, touchless thermometers and meals to the Detroit community.

COMMUNITY INTERACTION

On April 14, McCullers and Astros pitcher Josh James participated in a conference call with members of the Sunshine Kids, a non-profit organization dedicated to children with cancer and their families.

Bregman, Correa and Reddick all posted public service announcements, urging Houston residents to embrace the stay-at-home ordinances in the City of Houston.

Astros manager Dusty Baker has recorded multiple PSA’s, including one for the Next High Five campaign, which targets kids and teaches good hygiene habits. He also recorded a PSA that encouraged businesses and individuals to donate to the PPE Drive last week at Minute Maid Park.

ASTROS FOUNDATION TAKES CHARGE

Along with the Astros players, the Astros front office, Owner and Chairman Jim Crane, his wife Whitney Crane, and the Astros Foundation have been busy helping the Houston community navigate its way through the current crisis.

The Astros Foundation created a partnership with Crane Worldwide to provide funding, logistics and transportation support for much-needed medical equipment to serve those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Houston. Among the initiatives, the Astros Foundation announced a $400,000 donation to support the hospitals within the Texas Medical Center, while Crane Worldwide has been working to ensure fast and safe delivery of critical medical supplies and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from across the globe to the Houston hospitals within the Texas Medical Center. Among the supplies delivered by Crane Worldwide were more than 100,000 test swabs and critical PPE, including masks, forehead thermometers, and other key items.

The Astros joined all 30 Major League clubs in donating $1 million to support their part-time hourly workers at Minute Maid Park and FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.

During the week of April 6, the Astros Foundation worked with Papa John's to deliver pizzas to all 94 Houston Fire Department stations as a show of gratitude. Overall, 470 pizzas were delivered to the 94 HFD stations.

On April 8, the Astros Foundation partnered with the City of Houston, Project C.U.R.E. and Cheniere Energy to hold a Personal Protective Equipment Drive at Minute Maid Park. The drive was designed to collect PPE in support of first responders and municipal employees in Houston working in essential functions.

On April 9, the Astros joined the “Light It Blue” campaign by lighting up Minute Maid Park in blue. The goal of the nationwide campaign was to show gratitude and support for the healthcare workers on the frontlines during the current pandemic.