WooSox Foundation Holiday Caravan

Dec 20, 2021

With WooSox President Dr. Charles Steinberg on vacation, Joe Bradlee, V.P. Baseball Operations, Alex Richardson, ballpark and community relations and WooSox First Baseman Josh Ockimey pinch hit in the studio. Josh is up from Florida to take part in the Inaugural “WooSox Foundation Holiday Caravan.”

WooSox Foundation Holiday Caravan

Ockimey, the club’s first baseman and first-ever recipient of the WooSox Foundation’s “Heart of the Heart” award for community service, will team up with Gedman, his Hitting Coach, who won the charity’s inaugural eponymous “Geddy” award for his kindness and contributions to the community. Joining them are Mascots Smiley Ball and Woofster the WonderDog, along with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

The Caravan

The Caravan, funded by generous donors from our community, began on Wednesday morning just blocks away from Polar Park in the Canal District at St. John’s Food for the Poor, where representatives of the WooSox Foundation served breakfast to those in need. Other stops in Worcester included Abby’s House and Why Me & Sherry’s House, which the Caravan visitedt on Wednesday, and the Worcester Public Library and UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center, which was visited on Friday.

Stretching northward, the Caravan continued to Leominster on Thursday afternoon, with a visit to the Spanish American Center, which focuses on social, educational, and economic support to the Hispanic and Latino communities.

The Route

Southward, the troupe traveled to Webster, Mass. on Wednesday afternoon, to bring gifts to the talented students in Our Bright Future’s after-school program, which supports students’ academic needs and pursuits of robotics, arts and crafts, and sports. The charity is based in neighboring Southbridge, Mass.

West of Worcester, early Wednesday evening the excursion visiteds Leicester, site of the McAuley Nazareth Home for Boys. Partnering with Double Play Sports, home of the Junior WooSox in AAU Baseball, the visitors brought gifts and play games with the residents of the home team.

Kits for Kids

Addressing some of the needs at the eastern end of Central Massachusetts, the Caravan also spent time with foster families from Framingham’s Department of Children and Families in conjunction with the Wonderfund. Care packages comprising toys and books, as well as clothing and toiletries, were presented. Assembled by Kits for Kids of Marlborough, the gifts provide fun as well as everyday essentials to the children.