News
Angels help restore Boys & Girls Club
By Rhett Bollinger / MLB.com
07/13/10 4:00 PM ET
SANTA ANA, Calif. -- Hours before the 81st MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday at Angel Stadium, Major League Baseball, the Angels and the city of Santa Ana put the finishing touches on the renovations of the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Ana, as part of the festivities of 2010 MLB All-Star Week.It was a fun day for all involved, and major renovations were made to the club, including a newly constructed baseball and softball field, a baseball-themed mural on the field's outer edges, the planting of an organic/peace garden, renovations to a multi-purpose room and various other activities on the grounds and facility.
It was all part of MLB's "Going Beyond" initiative, which is expected to raise $5 million for local and national charities as part of MLB's All-Star Week in Anaheim and the surrounding areas. And it couldn't have been done without the help of the Angels and the Angels Baseball Foundation, which was created by Angels owner Arte Moreno in 2004.
"This has been important for us since the time I bought the team to be involved in the community," Moreno said. "It gives us a chance to give back to the kids and the families. When we started our foundation, we wanted to make a difference with kids by making sure they got education and somewhere they could have activities and the Boys & Girls club encompasses that."
Moreno was joined by many volunteers and dignitaries including MLB's President and Chief Operating Officer Bob DuPuy, Angels chairman Dennis Kuhl, Angels Baseball Foundation chairman Mark Merhab, Santa Ana mayor Miguel Pulido and Boys & Girls Club of America President and CEO Roxanne Spillett.
It was an especially touching day for Moreno because he often visited his local Boys & Girls Club growing up in Tucson, Ariz., and has made that charity one of his main beneficiaries of the Angels Baseball Foundation.
"For us, when we were kids it was a nice place to go," Moreno said. "It was always a safe place and clean, and they always helped me out. I always felt like I was sneaking in, like it was a place I had to pay money to go to. So it's one of our favorite charities."
It was also a great day for the local children and teenagers who regularly visit the Santa Ana Boys & Girls Club, as they enjoyed the improvements to the facilities.
"This is cool," 9-year-old Ziere McClure said. "It's awesome. I like seeing my friends here."
It was a doubly fun day for McClure and 11-year-old Esther Maerigal because they also will read the starting lineups for the national FOX broadcast of the All-Star Game at Angel Stadium.
But they were both also excited about the renovations to their favorite hangout spot.
"There are a lot of people helping out, which is good because it makes it more enjoyable," Maerigal said. "I like the pretty colors."
The Boys & Girls Club of Santa Ana has a big impact in the community, as it has impacted more than 70,000 lives since 1954, and serves approximately 900 youth from Santa Ana daily.
That's why the renovations were so important to the facility, according to Spillett.
"It's fabulous," Spillett said. "This is such an important club in such an important community, with real challenges for kids growing up. It's been an institution here and it's done wonderful work for kids coming in here."
One of the major highlights of the renovations was the reconstruction of the baseball field with the help of the Scotts Company, which provided grass for outfield and surrounding area, and Magical Builders, which is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to renovating and improving community facilities across the country to benefit underserved children.
"What's great is that we saw what it looked like before, and now it gives the kids an opportunity to have a field and run around on," Kuhl said. "There's a not a lot of green area around here to play on."
The rebuilding efforts at the Boys & Girls Club was the final of many community outreach programs and charity events as part of MLB All-Star Week and, according to DuPuy, it was a great success.
"It's about camaraderie, it's about teamwork and all the values that we think baseball teaches," DuPuy said. "It also teaches the values of sacrificing, like in baseball, getting a runner over to the next base. So that's what baseball's about and that's what this is about."
Rhett Bollinger is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
