Royals host Baseball Equipment Drive & Gloves for Kids event this week

The Kansas City Royals will be hosting two events - the Baseball Tomorrow Fund Baseball Equipment Drive and Gloves for Kids - during the final homestand of the season to help give disadvantaged youth the resources they need to play baseball and softball.

Baseball Tomorrow Fund Baseball Equipment Drive

On Wednesday, September 18, the Royals will host the Baseball Tomorrow Fund (BTF) Baseball Equipment Drive at Kauffman Stadium with the support of BTF ambassadors Alcides Escobar and his wife, Francys, and Luis Mendoza and his wife, Monica.

When coming out to the ballpark that evening for the Indians vs. Royals game, fans are invited to donate new and gently-used equipment to benefit the baseball program at Cristo Rey Kansas City. Mrs. Escobar and Mrs. Mendoza, along with Cristo Rey volunteers, will collect equipment outside the Kia Diamond Club from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Fans may also make cash donations in exchange for autographed baseballs and photo cards.

In conjunction with the equipment drive, the Baseball Tomorrow Fund will award a grant of $5,000 to Cristo Rey for the purchase of new equipment. This is the ninth year that BTF has teamed with Major League clubs to supplement their existing equipment collection programs. Escobar and Mendoza will take part in a check presentation prior to the game on Monday, September 16.

"As we celebrate the ninth season of the Equipment Day initiative, we are excited to see the program continue to grow and expand in its reach," says Cathy Bradley, Executive Director of the Baseball Tomorrow Fund. "The clubs, players, and fans are an integral part of the program's success in giving more children in our communities access to baseball and softball."

The Baseball Tomorrow Fund (BTF) is a joint initiative between the Major League Baseball Players Association and Major League Baseball designed to promote the growth of youth baseball and softball throughout the world by awarding grants to support field renovation and construction projects, equipment and uniform purchases, coaches training material and other selected program expenses. Since its formation in 1999, BTF has awarded more than 700 grants totaling $24 million to non-profit and tax-exempt organizations in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa and Asia, and approximately 330,000 youth players have benefited from programs and facilities supported by the fund. For more information, visit baseballtomorrowfund.com and follow BTF on Facebook, Twitter and MLBlogs.

Cristo Rey Kansas City was founded in 2006 and is a member of the Cristo Rey Network, a national network of 26 schools developed to lift urban youth from poverty by providing them with a college preparatory education and nurturing their dreams of a career and a better future. Today, these schools make college preparatory education financially viable in 26 urban communities across the country.

Gloves for Kids

Fans will have another chance to help provide baseball equipment for Kansas City's disadvantaged youth at a special Gloves For Kids event presented by the Royals and Ryan Lefebvre's Footprints Foundation on Thursday, September 19. The event will be held at Kansas Sampler-Oak Park, located at 9750 Quivira Rd. in Lenexa, Kan., from 5-7 p.m. Additional support for the event is provided by Rawlings, Rally House and 610 Sports Radio.

Select Royals players will sign autographs for fans who donate at least $25 toward new baseball gloves and other baseball/softball equipment for underprivileged youth in the Kansas City area.  

Royals players scheduled to appear include:
Outfielder Lorenzo Cain, Pitcher Louis Coleman, Pitcher Danny Duffy, Second Baseman Chris Getz, Second Baseman Johnny Giavotella, Outfielder David Lough, Pitcher Luis Mendoza, and Manager Ned Yost.
Session participants will be announced at Rally House at 4 p.m. One group of players will sign from 5-6 p.m. with the other group to follow from 6-7 p.m. Please note that a $25 donation is required for each session, and fans will be allowed to have one item autographed by each Royals player participating in that session. Sales for both sessions will begin at 4 p.m., and each session will be capped at 150 people. For details, visit www.royals.com/glovesforkids.

The event will also include a Royals Charities silent auction featuring unique Royals memorabilia, which will run until 6:45 p.m. In addition, Bob Fescoe, host of "Fescoe in the Morning" on 610 Sports Radio, the home of the Royals, will be reporting live from Rally House during the event.

Created in 2001 by Lefebvre's Footprints Foundation, the Gloves For Kids event has raised more than $93,000 to provide new baseball gloves and related equipment for Kansas City area youth.

For more information, members of the media may contact the Royals Publicity Department at (816) 921-8000.