One night after hitting a home run to help his team win its eighth straight, Mariners star Nelson Cruz was in West Seattle last night, going to bat for local students. An all-star list of attendees helped celebrate the launch of his Boomstick23 Foundation at The Sanctuary at Admiral. A big reason to launch it here – Cruz’s foundation is supporting Chief Sealth International High School, whose principal Aida Fraser-Hammer and athletic director Ernest Policarpio were at the launch.
Fraser-Hammer accepted a check for $10,000 last night and “a promise to provide us with gear for our baseball team,” as she wrote in a message to the CSIHS community this morning, explaining:
… It has long been Nelson’s dream to start a foundation to support education. Both his parents were teachers and he often speaks of their strong commitment to education and to ensuring that all students graduate from high school. Nelson has always wanted to take up the charge to support education as a way to honor his parents and to give back to the community. In looking for a school to partner with, Nelson visited our school in the spring, where he met some of our students and learned a lot about our strengths and challenges. …
Others from the Mariners organization and extended family were there – including Edgar Martinez!
The event at The Sanctuary also included a silent auction – with memorabilia like this:
Donors/supporters on hand included Kirk Keppler from Wyatt’s Jewelers (WSB sponsor) in Westwood Village, showing the diamond “Boomstick” his business contributed:
Others in attendance included King County Executive Dow Constantine and family:
Mayor Ed Murray stopped by too. This isn’t the first philanthropic venture for Nelson Cruz – he is also involved with the community in his Dominican Republic hometown, Las Matas de Santa Cruz. Meantime, he and the M’s go for their ninth consecutive win tonight at Safeco Field, 7:10 pm vs. the Astros.
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