Volunteers pitch in for community’s needy
More than a week after escaping her storm-ravaged home in Puerto Rico, Vera Clemente is helping provide aid to communities hit hardest by Hurricane Harvey.
Clemente, the widow of Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, was joined by former Astros outfielder Jose Cruz and team president Reid Ryan in hosting a volunteer packaging event at the Houston Food Bank on Friday. The effort will benefit those recovering from one of the worst storms in U.S. history.
“The area that was hardest hit (by Harvey) is our fan base — Astros country,” said Ryan, son of Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan. “The way this team has played has really given this community a ray of sunshine in what’s been a really dark time.”
Volunteers at the event organized by Major League Baseball and the Food Bank — including executives and staffers of the Astros and Minute Maid Park — packed hundreds of bags with non-perishable items for distribution to families displaced two months after the catastrophic flooding hit Houston.
The Roberto Clemente Award, given annually during the World Series, recognizes an MLB player’s exceptional contributions to his community.
Clemente, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, was born in San Anton, Puerto Rico.
The Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder was known for his humanitarian efforts and died on New Year’s Eve 1972 when his plane carrying aid supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua crashed off the coast of Puerto Rico.
Two-time Astros nominee and 2017 finalist, Jose Altuve, has worked with at-risk and innercity children since he joined the team in 2011. In 2007, Craig Biggio became the first — and so far only — Astros player to win the award.
The Chicago Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo was announced as the 2017 winner Friday night.
The Astros have partnered with the Houston Food Bank since 2014, hosting monthly volunteer opportunities for staff and players.
“We’re really grateful for the partnerships the Astros have had with the Food Bank for so many years,” said food bank President Brian Greene.
Vera Clemente lived for weeks without power in the concrete house she bought with her husband before they married in 1964. After Hurricane Maria battered Puerto Rico in September, cutting electricity to the island’s more than 3 million residents, her son Roberto Clemente Jr. flew her out last week.
“It’s going to take years to even start talking about rebuilding,” Clemente Jr. said. “Right now we’re still in recovery mode.”
Besides supporting communities affected by storms on the mainland, the family is working to bring drinking water to the island, where 9 percent of the water treatment plants are operational over a month after Maria.
“We’re trying to avoid an epidemic, which is where the island is headed right now,” Clemente Jr. said.
Thousands of Houstonians were displaced by Harvey, which dropped more than 50 inches of rain on some areas and left more than 80 people dead in Texas. The Houston Food Bank has prepared more than 800,000 meals in the past year.
“We as a league couldn’t do what we do without community partners like the Houston Food Bank,” said Tom Brasuwell, the league’s vice president for community affairs. “But we also couldn’t do it without tremendous clubs; you have a tremendous club in this community.”