MINNEAPOLIS -- Instead of spending their pregame time on a golf course or catching up on sleep on Wednesday, Twins reliever Trevor Hildenberger and a group of Minnesota pitchers took some time to lend a helping hand.
Hildenberger and a group of teammates made the half-hour drive from Minneapolis to Eagan, Minn., to help out with the Haiti Food Pack at Feed My Starving Children, a non-profit group that distributes food to people in developing nations.
This was just one way that the Twins were active in giving back to the Minnesota community during the club's eighth annual Hope Week, Hildenberger, Kyle Gibson, Jose Berrios and Taylor Rogers helped volunteers at Feed My Starving Children package food.
"It was awesome," Hildenberger said. "The kids didn't know that Twins players were coming, so we kind of surprised them. We walked in and they had no idea, so they were very happy. And they were very efficient -- they were very assembly-line like."
The initiative focuses on providing proper nutrition.  
"Just like, rice and soy, protein, veggies," Hildenberger said. "They sealed it and they weighed it, and if it didn't weigh a certain amount, you had to put more rice in. But they taught me how to do it. It was a lot of fun."
Front office staff and wives of the players also took part in Hope Week, which ran June 18-24.
From teaching local homeless youth to play Wiffle ball, to donating blankets to local youth in hospitals, the Twins' organization aimed to reach out to the community however possible.
"Not only does Feed My Starving Children provide hope to the kids in Haiti and all around the world, who they actually feed," Hildenberger said. "But the kids who are able to help those kids around their same age, I think they start to realize how big of a deal that is. When we came in, and they were having more fun and laughing and smiling, you can tell it makes a really big impact."
Twins slugger Eduardo Escobar has been extremely vocal all season about his love for the Brazilian restaurant Fogo de Chao. On Thursday, he partnered with the chain's Minneapolis location to host Dinner With Esky. Along with other Twins players, Escobar had dinner and met with local Spanish-speaking youth.

"It was a really good time. That's my favorite restaurant and just to be able to meet with the kids is a blessing, you know?" Escobar said. "We have an opportunity to help the kids and make an impact. A smile from a kid, for me, is the most important thing."