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I know I’ve talked about Kyle Gibson’s work as a leader of Big League Impact in the past, but Gibson and company have outdone themselves this time. First, some background.
Big League Impact was founded in 2013 with a mission of helping meet basic needs like food, clean water, medical care, and shelter. Last season they partnered with Major League Baseball, and with former Royals camp body (and guy famous for literally no other reason) Garth Brooks’ Teammates for Kids Foundation to raise funds to buy meals for kids. They were planning to same this fall—but realized there is a real and urgent need right now. Many kids that rely on their schools for food are currently at home due to the unprecedented situation going on in our country right now.
Brooks, Gibson, and Big League Impact founder Adam Wainwright started making phone calls and reaching out. The end result saw nearly $1,000,000 raised by fifty participating players—at least one from each team. For the Twins, Marwin Gonzalez participated, and a bunch of former Twins were involved as well—perhaps not surprising considering Gibson’s deep ties to the team and community.
Among that list were Tigers (and former Twins) manager Ron Gardenhire, Angels catcher Jason Castro, San Diego second baseman Brian Dozier, and Gibson’s fellow Ranger’s pitcher Lance Lynn.
Here is Gibson’s statement:
Kyle Gibson said: “At Big League Impact, we are always trying to find ways to help players raise money and have an impact in their home cities. Last year when we launched the Home Plate Project with Teammates for Kids and MLB, we knew it was going to be a program that would help kids all across the country who are constantly living with food insecurity. This was something we’ve been looking forward to doing again in August, but with COVID-19 causing the cancellation of schools all across the country, that has limited some kids’ access to free meals that they rely on to survive, and doing it now was an easy decision to make. To be able to step in and help fill that void is an absolute privilege! We knew when we decided to launch this program four months early, it was going to present some challenges that we didn’t face last year. Players all across the league have stepped up to help us overcome them, and they are the reason we have been able to grow this program larger than last year – and at a time when kids need it most. Big League Impact cannot accomplish what we do without the MLB players who jump on board and choose to do good in their communities. To the players around the league making this program successful in a time of dire need, our staff at Big League Impact says thank you!”
Anyway, you all know I’m a big Gibson fan, but once again he shows why. Not only has he been an underrated pitcher, but more importantly, he’s a genuinely decent person—which is something we need as much of as we can get these days. Okay, who am I kidding, I’m also a big Garth fan. Hence why I’m writing about them being awesome.