TEAMMATES FOR KIDS CELEBRATES 25TH ANNIVERSARY

Teammates For Kids, the foundation Garth Brooks started with baseball legends Larry Walker, Jason Kendall, Brian Hunter, Wally Joyner, and Tony Gwynn, is celebrating 25 years of helping kids in the areas of health, education, and inner-city services with the support of over 5,000 professional athletes.  What sets Teammates apart is that 100% of all donations benefit children directly, thanks to donors and corporate sponsors that cover administrative costs.  

Garth announced the foundation at a press conference in 1999 shortly before taking the field for spring training with the San Diego Padres.  Since then, Teammates For Kids has given over $100 million in cash, scholarships, and in-kind contributions to help children through over 900 charitable organizations in all 50 states, 10 Canadian provinces, and over 60 countries.  Charities and programs that receive support from Teammates include sports camps, food banks, after-school educational programs, youth athletic leagues, and literacy initiatives.

“This is the most important thing I’ve ever done!” Garth says.  “What started with a lot of love from some incredible baseball players has grown beyond what I could have ever imagined.  I can’t thank our teammates and our sponsors and donors enough.  And the people who work with these kids every day—I hope they never forget that they’re changing the future every day.”

One of Teammates’ favorite projects is the Child Life Zone. Teammates has built zones in 15 children’s hospitals in the U.S. and Canada.  A Child Life Zone is a state-of-the-art, therapeutic play area inside a hospital where pediatric patients and their families can play, learn, laugh, and relax. Child life specialists teach patients about their illness and what to expect during treatment, and they provide support to patients and their families before, during, and after procedures.

Learn more about Teammates For Kids here

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