The New York Yankees are proud to announce the return of HOPE Week (Helping Others Persevere & Excel) in 2025 for the 16th edition of the event. The initiative is a unique week-long community program that brings to light five remarkable stories intended to inspire individuals into action in their own communities.
Each day over a five-day stretch, the Yankees will highlight an individual, family or organization worthy of recognition and support, surprising honorees with a day celebrating their accomplishments. Outreach will often take place away from Yankee Stadium, allowing the Yankees to personally connect with individuals in settings that highlight their greatest successes.
This year’s event will mark the 12th year that the organization’s minor league teams will hold their own HOPE Weeks, allowing the initiative to touch the communities of our affiliates in the United States and Dominican Republic.
HOPE Week is rooted in the fundamental belief that acts of goodwill provide hope and encouragement to more than just the recipient of the gesture. Fans can learn more about the initiative and nominate inspirational individuals for HOPE Week recognition by visiting the official website at www.hopeweek.com.
ABOUT MARCH 3 CEREMONY AND HONOREE – OLDSMAR CARES
To further recognize and acknowledge the Yankees’ commitment to Tampa and the surrounding area, the Yankees will (for the 12th time) celebrate HOPE Week with local, Tampa-based spring training honorees. Both honorees this spring were heavily involved in recovery efforts in the surrounding Tampa community following the devastation of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton in 2024.
The first 2025 spring training honoree is Michelle Baldwin, who is Chairperson of the nonprofit Oldsmar Cares, and has donated hundreds of items on a daily basis to support and aid in hurricane relief efforts throughout Oldsmar, Fla., and surrounding area.
Michelle Baldwin and other members of Oldsmar Cares will be honored in a pregame ceremony on Monday, March 3, at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa prior to the Yankees’ 6:35 p.m. game vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Oldsmar Cares was founded in 1997 and is a 100% volunteer run 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving Oldsmar, Fla., and the surrounding region. The organization provides stopgap rent and utility assistance, a food pantry, and clothing – at no cost – to those in need in the greater Oldsmar area. After the devastation of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton in 2024, Oldsmar Cares received numerous calls for assistance from local churches and neighborhoods, giving residents an organization they can count on.
To learn more about Oldsmar Cares, please visit their website at: https://oldsmarcares.org/.
ABOUT MARCH 19 CEREMONY AND HONOREE – GOOD NEIGHBORS
The second 2025 Spring Training honoree is Heather Brooks, who co-founded Good Neighbors, which builds relationships with organizations and individuals to supply food and other necessities to those in need. The nonprofit envisions a strong community of relationships where everyone has access to food and the other necessities of daily living through several programs that are aimed towards vulnerable members of their community. In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton in 2024, Good Neighbors donated more than 1,100 pounds of food to a local nonprofit called Isaiah Village, Inc., which helps individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities, ran a hurricane relief fund and set up a free farmers market at the Regency Heights community complex in Clearwater, Fla.
Heather Brooks and other members of Good Neighbors will be honored in a pregame ceremony on Wednesday, March 19, at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa prior to the Yankees’ 6:35 p.m. game vs. the Atlanta Braves.
Good Neighbors was founded in 2020 by Heather Brooks and her husband, Tim. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Heather connected with more than 125 businesses and organizations to collect their surplus food and get it into the hands of those that needed it most. Persevering through the lockdown, Heather has grown the Good Neighbors Florida branch into an organization with more than 100 active volunteers that consistently provide food for more than 1,000 people weekly. In 2021, the Good Neighbors N.Y. branch was launched and grew very quickly with their effort to reach the underserved. Both locations have volunteer programs that collect and provide food that serves seniors, children, individuals with disabilities, food pantries, soup kitchens, those in transitional housing and the unsheltered.
To learn more about Good Neighbors, please visit their website at: https://www.goodneighborsfl.org/about-us/.
