‘Angels’ serve kids in need
Timber Creek club shares joy of baseball
Timber Creek center fielder Parker Wood remembers handing out baseball equipment to poverty-stricken kids in the Dominican Republic when he was 14 years old.
Now a junior in high school, Wood has recruited a few of his friends to do the same thing in the Orlando area.
They call themselves the Angels in the Outfield.
Wood approached his 10th-grade English teacher, Lori Brooks, in the fall to see if she would be interested in sponsoring a club that was dedicated to giving back to the community.
“As soon as I read the club’s mission statement, I was sold,” Brooks said.
The 16 members of the club are all students at Timber Creek. Eight of them are on the varsity baseball team — the same team that won the Class 9A state championship last season.
Wood got the inspiration to start the club from a short trip he took to the Dominican Republic in 2016 to play in the Latin America Baseball Classic. He decided to bring a few extra things with him.
“I filled an old suitcase with catcher’s gear, a few gloves and helmets, and as many bats as I could fit,” said Wood, “And all of it was for the kids in Boca Chica.”
Boca Chica is a small city on the southern coast of the Dominican Republic that attracts many tourists because of its white sandy beaches and turquoise waters. But nearly 40 percent of the city’s residents live in poverty.
This year, Wood began thinking of ways he could combine sports and giving back to the community and Angels in the Outfield was formed.
The club quickly came up with the idea to have an equipment drive at Timber Creek. According to Wood, the members were able to collect 102 bats, 54 gloves, 37 helmets, 88 pairs of baseball pants and 33 pairs of cleats.
After everything was cleaned and organized, club members decided they didn’t want to just give the equipment away, but instead use it to make a difference in kids’ lives. So Angels in the Outfield reached out to the Orlando Union Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter, in hopes that it could not only donate the equipment but also teach the kids at the mission how to play baseball.
“A lot of kids show talent, but don’t get the chance to play,” Wood said.
The club hosted a baseball clinic at the mission on Jan. 15, which was also Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and interacted with kids between the ages of 8 and 14. The kids learned how to throw a baseball, swing a bat and catch a ball.
Andrew Spolyar, a sophomore at Timber Creek and a first baseman on the team, said it was “extremely fun” to work with the kids and teach them about sports.
At the end of the clinic, each child was given a certificate and was made an honorary member of the Angels in the Outfield.
“It really gave the kids a true sense of belonging,” said Dana Wood, Parker’s mother.
Now that club members know what it’s like to give back to the community, they don’t want to stop. The club is teaming with Orlando Union Rescue Mission again, but this time instead of collecting equipment, they’ll be collecting shoes for the homeless. On March 30, close to 1,000 homeless people will attend an Easter banquet where their feet will be washed and fitted with a new pair of sneakers. The members of Angels in the Outfield will be helping during the banquet.
Donations of new sneakers can be dropped off at Timber Creek High School, 1001 Avalon Park S. Blvd., in east Orlando.