NEW YORK -- For the past 25 years, Major League Baseball and Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) have partnered together to foster the growing participation of youth baseball and softball, provide workforce development and career readiness programs and stage life-changing activations for kids across the country. Earlier this spring, MLB committed another $5 million to the BGCA through 2025 to support its affiliates with the work they are doing in their communities, including one close to the Office of the Commissioner.

The Boys & Girls Club of Paterson and Passaic, based in New Jersey, is a grant recipient of this “MLB at Work” initiative, and this winter, the league had a special surprise in store for the local chapter’s youth.

Since 2002, MLB has provided gifts for children in underserved communities during the holiday season, even hosting festive parties for them to receive those presents at the MLB Network studios in Secaucus, N.J. Though that part of the “Winter Wishes” program was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MLB employees in the New York headquarters fulfilled requests of nearly 150 gifts for the children of the N.J. BGC. Employees from MLB’s offices in San Francisco and Boulder, Colo., also coordinated with their local chapters to contribute gifts to the kids of the BGCA.

“MLB and Boys and Girls Clubs is really a super strong partnership,” said Wendy McGuire, chief executive officer of the BGC of Paterson and Passaic, via phone. “The fact that we can go beyond the normal grant-funded, after-school program aspects into something like this where it’s just pure joy -- that is something that I think speaks to the integrity and the fellowship that MLB brings to their community partnerships.”

Over the span of three weeks, MLB employees used the company’s internal community service channel to access letters the kids of the N.J. BGC had submitted, with detailed wishes that ranged from the conventional to the aspirational. Toys were the most requested items -- from dolls and action figures to knickknacks with sports and superhero themes -- so the employees went out and purchased them, later submitting them to the community affairs department for safe-keeping.

“Usually it’s more general requests, so it was really cool to have the kids ask for something specific and know that they’re going to get that gift,” McGuire said.

On Thursday afternoon, two of the company’s Business Resource Groups (BRG) -- MLB Women and Athletes to Executives -- hosted the annual wrapping party, and nearly 70 volunteers gathered in the auditorium to ensure that those “Winter Wishes” gifts were Christmas Day-ready.

The volunteers grabbed a labeled gift from the front of the room, received a handwritten copy of the corresponding letter and then set about cutting, taping and decorating -- showing impressive skill for a task that carries with it a reputation of being tricky. They also threw in a deck of brand-new baseball cards, an added bonus courtesy of the company. The boisterous affair featured holiday tunes over the loudspeakers, a delectable collection of sweet treats and more than a few folks donning Santa Clause hats.

“The energy was amazing,” said April Brown, MLB’s vice president of social responsibility. “There’s a great feeling right now within the employees coming back to the office and being able to be together in person to do something like this. … It was a true testament to the collaborative spirit among employees to come together and do good.”

Though the event was slotted for two hours in order to guarantee that all the gifts were wrapped, the volunteers surprised its organizers and even themselves with the speed and determination on display. By the time the last ribbon had been tied, only 40 minutes had passed, eliciting cheers from all in attendance.

“This is the quickest we’ve ever wrapped all of these gifts,” said Linda Przygodski, director of enterprise digital initiatives and a co-president of the Women BRG. “I’ve been here for 15 years and I think I’ve done this for 10 or 11 years, and I’ve never seen the gifts get wrapped this quickly. We had some good elves.”

The teamwork between the two BRGs no doubt played a role in that effort. Karen Abdul, manager of royalty administration and a co-president of the Athletes to Executives BRG, had also participated in her fair share of holiday wrapping parties, calling it one of her favorite events of the calendar year. So she jumped at the chance to make it a joint affair, a trend that the company will be amplifying going into the new year.

“It’s just such a nice tie when groups can come together through our BRGs,” Brown said.

“[We] decided, ‘Let’s just collaborate and host it together,’” Abdul said. “It’s all about fellowship with one another in the office. Sometimes we’ll see each other in passing, but we don’t get a chance to stop and just enjoy something fun. And it’s for a good cause. And it’s the holiday season.”

While the gifts are wrapped and ready for distribution, it will be a couple more weeks before the kids from the BGC of Paterson and Passaic will be able to unwrap them. That’s by design, according to McGuire, and it’s a reminder of the power of giving back to those who might need it.

“Quite frankly, some of their parents are not able to give them Christmas, so we try to [hand them out] as close to Christmas as possible -- so there’s a greater chance that it actually goes under the tree,” McGuire said. “And I think that that’s important, because we want every kid to be able to wake up Christmas morning and have a gift.”