RailRiders Announce Week-Long HOPE Week Activities
Festivities to run from Tuesday, June 5 through Sunday, June 10
MOOSIC, PA. (May 31, 2018) – What began as an ode to the parent club and the community has turned into an annual tradition in NEPA. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Triple-A, New York Yankees) are proud to announce that beginning on Tuesday, June 5, the RailRiders will once again join the New York Yankees in support of HOPE Week 2018 (Helping Others Persevere and Excel), a unique week-long communal program that brings to light extraordinary stories intended to inspire individuals into action in their own communities.
“HOPE Week is something our entire organization looks forward to each year,” said Jordan Maydole, Director of Community Relations for the RailRiders. “It’s a week where we get to focus on supporting and celebrating an incredibly deserving individual or community organization. It’s always rewarding to see what this week brings and to see the impact a baseball team and staff can make in the community.”
Initiated in 2009 and now in its ninth campaign in NEPA, HOPE Week is rooted in the fundamental belief that acts of goodwill provide hope and encouragement to more than just the recipient of the gesture. Each day from Tuesday, June 5, through Sunday, June 10, members of the RailRiders front office staff and the team will personally connect with an organization, cause or individual in the surrounding community. 2018 marks the seventh straight year that each of the Yankees’ six U.S.-based affiliates will participate in the program, making the initiative one that the entire organization proudly stands behind.
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thursday, june 5
HOPE Week kicks off with players, coaches and front office staff participating in Hunger 101 -- a poverty simulation. It is a unique, enlightening experience that helps individuals begin to understand what life is like with a shortage of money, a shortage of food and an abundance of stress. It moves people to think about the harsh realities of poverty and hunger. It encourages people to make a difference. Hunger 101 is facilitated by the Commission on Economic Opportunity/Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank. Immediately following there will be an hour of food-packing for the food bank and concludes with a tour of the Food Bank’s Center for Healthy Living. During that night’s game, a jersey will be raffled off to support local Scranton teen, Jalen Chandler, who is battling leukemia, and who will be in attendance that evening with his family. There will be additional fundraising that night to benefit Jalen’s fund to cover his family’s medical expenses.
wednesday june 6
Wednesday June 6 will be a day in celebration of Christian Pack. He is a Hanover Township native and King’s College baseball player, who ended the season with a .365 batting average and led the Monarchs with 54 hits and 36 runs scored who embodies everything about HOPE Week. Despite six total heart surgeries since birth, including four open-heart surgeries, his perseverance and passion for baseball has led him from Little League, to high school, to finishing this past season with the second highest batting average on the team at King’s College. As the RailRiders’ guest to that night’s game vs. the Durham Bulls, Christian and his family will get a special look at RailRiders batting practice before the game, take a tour of the stadium and enjoy a VIP night out at the game.
thursday june 7
It’s Vs. Cancer Night, Thursday June 7. RailRiders RHP J.P. Feyereisen, Strength & Conditioning Coach Brad Hyde, Members of the RailRiders Front Office, Coaching staff and players have committed to raising funds and awareness for the Vs. Cancer Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. For weeks, they have raised funds for the RailRiders campaign through their personal fundraising pages and have promised to stand in support of pediatric cancer by having their heads shaved on the field in front of the dugout following Thursday’s game. During the game, fans can get their hair buzzed by SportClips for a donation to Vs. Cancer. Half of the funds raised by the RailRiders for Vs. Cancer will directly benefit the Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital in Danville, while the other half will directly benefit the national Vs. Cancer Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. Keegan Wyshosky, an 11-year old brain tumor survivor from Lehighton, Pa. and his family will be in attendance during the game. Keegan will throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the start of the game and will serve as the honorary Countdown Kid to commence the head-shaving ceremony on field postgame.
friday june 8
Friday begins with a morning visit for players, coaches and Champ the mascot at the Children’s Unit of the Geisinger Wyoming Valley Hospital. The visit includes visiting with the young patients and delivering goodie bags containing RailRiders coloring pages, a team poster, player card set and a baseball. Kids from the Boys and Girls Club of Northeastern Pennsylvania will be in attendance at the game; enjoying a tour of the ballpark and a meet and greet with CHAMP the mascot prior to the start of the game. Fans at Friday’s game are encouraged to pre-register for the Backyard Baseball jersey auction for the jerseys that the RailRiders will be wearing the following night. Fans who bid on the signed and game-worn jerseys through QTego’s online and text-bidding system Saturday can get their jerseys after the conclusion of Saturday’s game. All jersey auction proceeds will directly benefit the Boys and Girls Club of NEPA.
saturday june 9
Saturday morning, players and coaching staff will visit with veterans at the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center. The VAMC Wilkes-Barre has been improving the health of the men and women who have so proudly served our nation in this area for over 50 years. The VAMC serves Veterans living in 18 counties across PA and one county in New York. The Backyard Baseball jerseys will be up for auction the night of Saturday June 9 with all proceeds benefit the Boys and Girls Club of NEPA. Using QTego’s online and mobile text-bidding auction system, the game-worn jerseys from that night’s Backyard Baseball-themed game will be up for auction during the game. The jerseys won by the winning bidder will be signed by the player who wore them that night. Both fans in attendance and fans at home may participate in the auction. A link for the event’s website will be shared during the week leading up to the game.
sunday june 10
On Sunday, HOPE Week wraps up with a morning spent with the Wyoming Valley Challenger Little League. In HOPE Week finale tradition, RailRiders players and front office staff will visit with the Wyoming Valley Challenger Little League during their game held at Right Field in the morning prior to the RailRiders game. Players will serve as “buddies” cheering on the Challenger players alongside their parents and coaches. After the Challenger game that morning, the Hospice of Sacred Heart’s Camp Healing HEARTS childhood bereavement program will be celebrated. The program is a day-camp experience based in Moosic to provide grief education to children ages 8-14 who have experienced the loss of a loved one. Children work with counselors and community members to help them progress towards the acceptance of loss and using different art forms as a means of self-expression. Thanks to Scranton Products, 29 kids from Camp Healing HEARTS and 15 members of their supportive family and friends will get to attend the game together. The kids will also receive a special opportunity to meet the RailRiders players and coaches at the ballpark prior to gates opening.
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HOPE Week is just part of the RailRiders’ community outreach this season, and the RailRiders look forward to continuing their commitment both during and after HOPE Week. Any inquiries regarding the weeklong festivities should be directed to RailRiders Director of Community Relations Jordan Maydole by calling 570-969-2255 (ext. 3140) or by e-mailing jmaydole@swbrailriders.com. For tickets or more information on the upcoming homestand which features 10 games in nine days running from June 5 – June 13, please call 570-969-BALL (2255) or visit swbrailriders.com.
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