The Jessie Rees Foundation has amazing support from athletes around the country. We were lucky to go to Area Code Games 2015 to spread Jessie’s message with athletes and share the day with courageous kids! The Area Code Baseball Games is an elite baseball event that is held in Long Beach, Calif. The 2015 tournament took place from August 4 – August 11 at historic Blair Field in Long Beach, Calif. The 2015 tournament consists of eight teams representing eight regions nationwide. Each team is built by one of eight Major League Baseball teams. The 2015 teams included: New York Yankees, Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals and the Oakland Athletics.
This is a unique event in the sense that the top players from around the country are on the same field for a week being evaluated at the highest level in baseball. Scouts from all 30 Major League teams and the Major League Scouting Bureau are expected each year! Plus, there are college coaches from many of the top college baseball programs in the nation.
The Chicago White Sox team visited the Joy Factory before heading to Area Code Games on day! They got to stuff JoyJars and hear more about Jessie and her wish! The team got to watch Jessie’s video and stuff birthday JoyJars for courageous kids. One of the players, Michael said, “You can’t describe it, its awesome and it means a lot. She was someone fighting her own battle and still wanted to help others so thats really inspiring.”
The team stuffed JoyJars and even helped sort toys to put in future JoyJars. Everyone of them was excited to be a part of #TeamNEGU! Michael was inspired to make his JoyJar excellent, he said “Trying to picture how the little girl I made the JoyJar for is going to feel when she opens it and trying to make it perfect was my favorite part!”
Cooper Johnson, also a member of the White Sox team and an Ole Miss baseball recruit, said that his favorite experience of the weeklong Area Codes Games was the time spent with children from the Jessie Rees Foundation, “I really enjoyed playing with the kids at the Jessie Rees Foundation,” he said. “We played catch, video games and hung out with them.”
THANK YOU WHITE SOX FOR BEING A PART OF #TeamNEGU!!!!