MILWAUKEE -- Jackson Chourio has been feeling the love from Brewers fans ever since committing to the club with an eight-year contract and breaking into the big leagues as a 20-year-old. But the past few emotional days have reinforced once again the power of community.
Throngs of Brewers fans, Brewers teammates like Abner Uribe, Christian Yelich, Brice Turang and Sal Frelick, and other good Samaritans lined up just a few miles from American Family Field on Monday afternoon at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church to donate items for Venezuelan earthquake relief efforts, as the death toll in that country continues to rise after a pair of powerful quakes last week. Chourio and fellow Venezuelan William Contreras spent recent days spreading the word about the event.
“We expected something good, but the ending was great,” Chourio said. “A lot of people showed up. We put boxes and boxes and boxes together. Teammates showing up to help, the fans showing up to help, it was beautiful.”
They packed up non-perishable food and water, hygiene products and emergency supplies to be sent to Venezuela -- a small act in response to an overwhelming catastrophe.
Contreras has spoken eloquently about the helplessness he felt as he played baseball while his country suffers, and Chourio said he has been feeling the same.
“Today was a first step,” he said. “We’re going to keep pushing to help as much as we can to make this stretch a little bit easier. We can say the worst thing happened already, but it’s going to be painful for the next weeks and months for the country. …
“It’s a hard feeling. You don’t want to put yourself in the shoes of people who lost family and lost everything they have. Whatever the country is going through is devastating. I would love to be there to help people, but I have a job to do. For those people, I want to make sure they know we are doing the best we can to help some way, somehow.”
Translating for Chourio was Brewers Major League Field Coordinator Néstor Corredor, who, besides being a coach, has mentored Chourio and other players since they came to Milwaukee. He expressed the same pride about the way Contreras and Chourio have responded to this crisis as he did when they helped lead Venezuela to the World Baseball Classic championship earlier this year.
“They understand [their] position, William and him,” Corredor said. “It’s no secret they were heroes three months ago. They were part of that team that won the championship in the WBC and the country was happy. Now we’re dealing with this situation.
“We all watched a few days ago, how emotional it was when William hit the home run, and when [Chourio] hit the home run, how emotional it was. When people ask me, it’s like, ‘That’s what you’re doing for 30 million people.’ It’s not just another stat. Jackson Chourio was thinking about Venezuela and trying to represent Venezuela the best way he can. It means we’ve got a really good, special kid.”
Said manager Pat Murphy: “It’s meaningful when you know you have players with depth. It’s meaningful when you have players with income, and they know it’s about others. That does your heart good.”
The Brewers are directing fans who are interested in learning how to help to visit forwardlatino.org.
“I’ve always felt the love from Brewers fans, but today was super special,” Chourio said. “One more time, they were there to support not just the Venezuelan players, but Latin players, the Latin community. We feel one more time that Brewers fans love the Brewers players.”