Roughly 100 members from the Los Angeles Dodgers, including new Spanish radio broadcaster Luis Cruz, along with volunteers from Bank of America, came together at a local Los Angeles Regional Food Bank on Tuesday morning to sort and pack items that would be delivered to those who have been directly impacted by the Southern California Wildfires.
The visit kicked off the second day of the 2025 Dodgers Love L.A. Community Tour. The Dodgers partnered with Worthy of Love to host a birthday party at Dodger Stadium for children and families from the Salvation Army in Westlake Village, Hope Gardens, Angeles House and Union Rescue Mission.
This year’s community service week has focused on directly contributing to wildfire relief efforts.
“We’ve really focused this tour on service,” Dodgers vice president of government and community affairs Kristin McCowan said. “Typically every year we do an employee day of service for Dodgers staff and Bank of America staff. Today is part of that.
“We’re specifically focusing on getting meals to those victims of the fires that need it most right now. The L.A. Regional Food Bank has been able to provide over 8 million pounds of food over the last 21 days to people in need. So today we’re helping them pack produce and other things to get it out to those who need it most right now.”
Cruz, who played for the Dodgers from 2012-2013, was participating in his first event with the team since a href=”https://dodgerblue.com/luis-cruz-hired-dodgers-spanish-language-radio-broadcasts/2024/11/13/”>returning this offseason in a broadcaster role.
“The Dodgers have always been big in community events,” Cruz told DodgerBlue.com. “We’re doing all this from the bottom of our hearts for the people whose homes got damaged. I think it means a lot for us to be here. We’re doing it with a lot of passion.
“It’s going to be a fun week helping people.”
Fellow Dodgers broadcaster José Mota also was among those participating.
The Dodgers and Bank of America additionally made a $10,000 donation to the L.A. Regional Food Bank to further support their efforts. While there’s a focus on the immediate, the Dodgers and Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation are committed to providing aid moving forward as well.
“Obviously this is our community. We have staff personally impacted, we are all dealing with this and our community is reeling, so we know this is a long-term engagement for us. You’re going to see stuff throughout the season that harkens back to this tragic event that’s taking place in our community.
“We recognize there’s going to be an ongoing need for us to be a good and strong and actively engaged community partner.”
Dodgers Love LA tour 2025
The Dodgers’ week of community service continues Wednesday with Chris and Mary Taylor partnering with Nuna to distribute strollers to families that have been impacted by the wildfires.
Also on Wednesday, Cruz and Tony Gonsolin are going to lead a reading event with young students.
Blake Snell, Hyeseong Kim, Anthony Banda, Ben Casparius, Michael Conforto, Hunter Feduccia, Michael Grove, Kyle Hurt, Emmet Sheehan, Alex Vesia, Gavin Stone and Bobby Miller are players participating in remaining stops on the Dodgers Love L.A. Community Tour 2025.
Following the week of giving back, DodgerFest is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 1, in the Dodger Stadium parking lots. DodgerFest tickets sold out, but parking must be purchased and is still available for $10.
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