KANSAS CITY -- When Jorge Guevara saw that the Royals’ 50-50 raffle proceeds on Tuesday night would benefit the Venezuela earthquake relief efforts, he knew he had to enter.
Even as the Venezuelan native, who has made Sedalia, Mo., his home now for over two decades, inputted his credit card information, he was already thinking about what he would do with the money if he, by some small chance, actually won.
It was never going to be his.
That night, he and his wife checked the winning number. Guevara read it out loud: 99251703001.
“As I read them out, it was surreal,” Guevara said. “The last four matched. We read it 20 times. The excitement, the feelings, it was amazing.”
With a winning ticket, Guevara won $13,679. But he never went back on his word. He quickly told the Royals that all of his winnings would go right back to the relief efforts, so the organization could donate the full $27,358 raised before and during Tuesday’s game to Venezuela, as the country recovers from two consecutive and powerful earthquakes that devastated communities in Caracas (Guevara’s hometown), La Guaira and surrounding areas on June 24.
“All I could think when I purchased the ticket, I was just praying: ‘God, help me win this so I can send the money back home,’” Guevara said. “So we can make it happen. This is my hometown. From the beginning, it never was my money. It was God’s money; it was Venezuela’s money. Everything worked out for a reason. I feel like I was chosen, and it’s my time to make this bigger.”
Guevara was born and raised in Venezuela before he arrived in Sedalia as a 16-year-old in 2002 to attend Sacred Heart School as a Rotary International exchange student. The culture shock was real, he said, but he adapted, learned and came to call Missouri home. He’s never left, attending college at Central Missouri and becoming a U.S. citizen along the way.
Guevara was a huge baseball fan when he arrived in the States, at first a fan of the Cardinals. But his allegiance slowly shifted to the other side of the state, drawn to Kansas City because of its proximity -- less than 90 minutes from Sedalia -- and because of a young Venezuelan catcher who made his debut in 2011 with the Royals. Guevara was instantly a fan of Salvador Perez.
“His personality, the way he relates to fans -- it’s Venezuela,” Guevara said. “I really felt a strong connection there with him and with the team.”
Guevara’s rehearsal dinner the night before his wedding was at Kauffman Stadium. He was a season-ticket holder for several years until the pandemic in 2020. He’s cheered for the Royals for years, which is why this current situation seems even more surreal to him.
And why he wants to make it into something bigger than just the 50-50 raffle.
“I’m trying to get organizations to match my $13,000,” Guevara said. “I’m hoping to raise $1 million for Venezuela, to be able to put medicine in the hospitals and supply them with items that are so scarce right now due to the failed infrastructure. I’m really hoping to do that. I’m hoping to be able to work with organizations to help us get the items there. We have several options that I can work with, and we’re going to make it happen. Hopefully people will step up.”
Guevara was pitching for his 8-year-old daughter’s coach-pitch softball team last week when his phone started buzzing with news of the earthquakes. Soon, family and friends were sending photos and videos of the damage and horrific stories about the injuries and deaths. Guevara’s family is scattered around the world now, but he has uncles and many lifelong friends still in Venezuela. They are safe, but Guevara knows that’s not the case for many of their neighbors and their communities.
“All I could think was, ‘No, this can’t be,’” Guevara said. “It wasn’t just a regular earthquake. It was a total disaster. It was a war zone. So you feel compelled to help, and there’s nothing you can really do. I can’t get on a plane and go there. So I’ve been wanting to do something.”
Guevara isn’t alone in that thought; across MLB, Venezuelan players have felt the emotions of seeing their country hurting and have tried to help. MLB and the MLBPA announced earlier this week a joint $1 million donation to help people affected by the earthquakes. Guevara sees the 50-50 raffle as his first step, and he hopes to see it grow as he spreads the word.
“Even though you might not be connected to what’s happening, we’re all still a part of this world,” Guevara said. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what language you speak or what flag you stand behind. … If everybody worked together, I do believe that we can make a difference.”