Barry Zito Donates $109,000 to Welcome Back Veterans

By April Whitzman, @AlleyCat17

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In honor of our nations independence, Barry Zito is donating $500 for every strikeout in every MLB game today to Welcome Back Vets &
— San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) July 4, 2013

in tribute to his late father, Joe, who loved what the 4th of July stood for #SFGiants
— San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) July 4, 2013

Inspired by his father’s involvement in the military, Giants lefty Barry Zito founded Strikeouts for Troops, a non-profit organization dedicated towards military veterans, back in 2005. Since then, many other players have joined the cause to support our injured American service members and their families. This year marks the seventh year of the organization.

One of Zito’s most recent pledges was to donate $500.00 to another charity, Welcome Back Veterans, for every strikeout thrown on July 4th. Sure, $500.00 may not sound like much, but there were 218 strikeouts! That’s $109,000 that Zito will donate.

Well done, Barry!