Brewers Dominican Summer League team completes community service project

MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Brewers Dominican Summer League team this week completed a service project at Escuela Monte Cristi, a school in Ramon Santana, near the Brewers complex in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic.

The project was initiated by a group of players who made regular visits to the school.  The players and team administrators met with the director of the school to determine how they could help make improvements to the school with the objective of improving the quality of life and quality of learning for the students and teachers.

“Having those in our organization involved in the community is important at all levels, from the youngest players at our Dominican complex all the way up through our Major League team in Milwaukee,” said Brewers President of Baseball Operations – General Manager Doug Melvin. “By focusing on one key project, these young men learn how they can impact the lives of others by donating their time and skills to worthy causes.”

Below are some of the projects that players have handled with administrators at Escuela Monte Cristi this summer:

• School Library: Books and educational supplies were purchased to create a library not only for the school, but also for the entire Monte Cristi community. 
• Kitchen Roof: The team worked to add a new roof to the kitchen at the school, improving conditions during food preparation.
• Water Dispensers: The team worked with “FilterPure,” a non-profit organization that works on clean water solutions to install new water dispensers for each of the seven classrooms of the school.
• Fans and Window Shades: The team installed new fans in the classrooms to make students and teachers more comfortable.  New window shades help promote proper airflow into classrooms and protect from weather conditions.
• Septic Tank: Problems with the school septic tank have called for a replacement.  The team installed a new tank to ensure proper plumbing.
• Basketball Hoops: The basketball hoops on the playground were beyond repair and through a donation by the Dominican Minister of Sports, the team installed the new equipment.
• Paint and Landscaping: The team painted the outside of the school building. Also, through the help of former Brewers closer Salomon Torres and his workers at TOWERS (a company owned by Torres), the team provided the school with new landscaping.
• Security Fence: A new fence was built around the school to keep animals and uninvited guests off school grounds, thus improving security for students.

The Grand Opening of the school will be this coming Monday.  Last summer, the club took part in a similar community service project at a local school in Km 26 of Villa Mella that included both exterior and interior upgrades.

The Brewers opened their new baseball academy in the Dominican Republic in November of 2011.  The team has had a presence in the Dominican Republic for a number of years but with this Academy, the team now has a training complex of its own. The Academy features two fields, batting cages, bullpens, a clubhouse, weight room and housing for players.