CHICAGO – Ian Happ will willingly speak at length about all the valuable lessons he learned from the Cubs’ veterans in his first few years in the big leagues. Beyond all the insight about navigating a Major League clubhouse or playing on baseball’s biggest stage, he also saw how the established players gave back.
Happ saw Anthony Rizzo – a cancer survivor – hosting events through his foundation to help families impacted by pediatric cancer. He saw the work being done away from the field by Jon Lester, Cole Hamels and former manager Joe Maddon. Happ watched Kyle Schwarber go from participating in events to launching his own foundation. He saw Jason Heyward making an impact in Chicago neighborhoods.
“In those first few years, that was the standard,” Happ said this week. “The standard of being a Cub was that you played in this amazing stadium with these amazing fans, and then you gave back to the community. You showed an appreciation for what the city gives us on a daily basis.”
That background served as a driving motivator for Happ to launch his own foundation this past year. Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson and his wife, Mallory, also launched their own foundation, while outfielder Kyle Tucker spent his first year with the team diving into events with his own foundation already established.
With those veterans setting a tone, Cubs Charities experienced what Lea Jesse, the organization’s vice president and executive director, called a “record-breaking year” in 2025. Between an increase in player involvement and the Cubs reaching the postseason for the first time in five years, it was a busy and productive year on multiple fronts.
“Across the board,” Jesse said, “we’ve seen higher engagement and people coming to us saying, ‘I want to be involved,’ raising their hands. … We found ourselves in the position of, ‘Gosh, we have an opportunity here to reach out to so many of our community partners who need the support right now.’”
Cubs Charities are in a busy portion of their year with all the holidays between November and December, plus Cubs Convention arriving in January.
Last week, the organization teamed with Nourishing Hope to help distribute food at their pantry. Included was a $23,000 donation in memory of Ryne Sandberg from money donated by Cubs fans after his passing earlier this year. The Cubs and Jewel-Osco also partnered to give out turkeys ahead of Thanksgiving.
Cubs Charities also distributed Thanksgiving turkeys and other supplies last week to families at the Pedersen-McCormick Boys & Girls Club in Uptown, and they hosted annual Thanksgiving dinners with seniors in the Lakeview community and students from the team’s Cubs Scholars program.
“The success of the team this year on the field translated to meaningful growth for Cubs Charities,” Jesse said. “And we are rolling that right back into our programs and the communities that we support.”
Some highlights from 2025 for Cubs Charities included:
- An estimated 30,000 youth engaged in direct programming, including 5,500 kids from 39 zip codes as part of the Cubs Jr. All-Stars, 90 students taking part in the CASE (careers as sports executives) program, 55 baseball and softball teams through the Cubs Nike RBI program and 51 active students in Cubs Scholars, among others.
- Roughly $1.7 million awarded to 103 partner organizations, including 45 programs to support Diamond Project.
- Nearly $11 million raised through fundraising events, including $1.9 million via the Bricks & Ivy gala, a record $5 million through the 50/50 raffle at Wrigley Field, $1.7 million for Cubs for a Cure (benefiting cancer research) and other initiatives.
Cubs Charities had more than 3,000 (and counting) volunteer hours across 60-plus events to date in 2025, which is a substantial increase over the previous year. That includes having more players – from the veteran group down to the rookies – taking part in a variety of events throughout the year.
Jesse said “I thought I was at a Taylor Swift concert” while recalling how kids from the Inter-American Magnet School reacted to first baseman Michael Busch attending a pep rally. She said it was a “powerful moment” to see the whole team participate in the “reverse signing” event Nico Hoerner hosted for kids from the Advocate Children’s Hospital.
In June, players took part in an event to pack equipment to deliver to Little League programs throughout Chicago. That month also saw pitchers Cade Horton and Brad Keller, plus Hall of Famer Andre Dawson, join an event to add a scoreboard to the wheelchair-accessible field at California Park.
The list goes on.
“It’s just a reminder, I think, to the guys,” Jesse said, “that when you show up for people, it matters and they really appreciate it. It may be something for them that’s 45 minutes out of their day. But for those kids? It makes their year.”
Happ said that is an important part of what it means to be a part of the ballclub.
“It’s the culture of the Cubs and the way that I was raised in this organization,” Happ said. “It’s a very important part of leading and showing the guys that this is what it means to be a Cub. It’s giving back to this amazing community that we’re able to be a part of.”