YANKEES' HOPE WEEK IS THE GREATEST WEEK ON EARTH

 (In Photo: Yankees HOPE Week 2011)

Giving back... you have to love the Yankees' HOPE Week! You really can't say enough about it, it's the feel good story of the year, every year the Yankees do it! I salute them.  HOPE week (Helping Others Persevere & Excel) has been going on for 4 years now and I always love seeing the Yankees with kids who worship them in the field. Sure players can just baseball and never do anything for the fans. But the Yankees don't, they give back to the fans. The interaction is tremendous.

I have always been touched by the photo above of Jorge Posada and a little girl who just had the moment of her life. It's intimate, and a moment that makes my heart flutter.  Looking at it long enough I could pretty much get choked up about it.  The message is clear, the Yankees appreciate the support and now they want to support others.   Well, it didn't end there. This year, according to LoHud, today is a celebration of Flying Manes. Chad Jennings writes "Yankees players Mark Teixeira, Eric Chavez, Raul Ibanez and Jayson Nix, along with pitching coach Larry Rothschild will honor Flying Manes by surprising the special-needs children and their instructors during one of their therapeutic horse-riding classes at the Riverdale Equestrian Centre in the Bronx. The Yankees will help students with grooming the horses, and also assist in leading and walking beside the horses during the riding lesson."

(In Photo: Yankees HOPE Week)
As I stated, this year is the fourth consecutive year of HOPE Week.  I absolutely love this idea.  As the Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo says: “For five straight days, we go out into our community and we try and recognize and celebrate some pretty powerful and inspiring stories...”

(In Photo: Trenton Thunder with Project Freedom 2012)
And it's not only the Pros, last week the Trenton Thunder celebrated the Project Freedom program. According to MLB.com's Aaron Carter, "Project Freedom is a non-profit organization that provides barrier-free housing, which enables individuals with disabilities to live independently.

As part of the New York Yankees HOPE week initiative, players and personnel from the Double-A affiliate Trenton Thunder visited residents and staff in Lawrenceville, NJ." You can read all about that visit HERE.

(In Photo: Yankees HOPE Week 2011)
And you can read more about HOPE Week HERE. That is their official website.

We'll try and bring you updates this week, it's a wonderful thing and a beautiful week. I'm proud of my New York Yankees...class acts for sure.

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