Whenever the end of August rolls around, it most usually means one thing — it’s time to go back to school.
As the summer months wind down, many families get ready to return to their regularly scheduled programming from September to June. It also means having to get back to school supplies, which sometimes includes a laundry list of items that a kid must get.
However, up in Queens, Vntg_mets has people covered.
The Mets content creator hosted his fourth annual friends and family back-to-school softball game on August 23 at Victory Field. The charity event partnered with local businesses to provide food while also giving kids bookbags with school supplies in them and coolers for them to put their lunches while also playing softball.
“This event is designed after giving kids an early head start to their school year. Even if it’s just a little bit of weight that we could lift off of a parent’s shoulders for this back-to-school time.” Vntg_mets said. “This is one of my favorite times of the year. We like to come together as a Mets community and do things for the community of Queens.”
There was an activation for families to get virtual trading cards. People at the event could also get their faces painted during the festivities.
There was also food from Eat in the Cave, a Puerto Rican soul food truck that serves food at Citi Field. Ed Bunch, the Co-owner at Eat in the Cave, with his wife Zina, feels like the event was good to not only be part of the community, but also help take a little pressure off of parents when it comes to getting supplies for the upcoming school year.
“Giving back to the kids is something that’s very important, especially this time of the year,” Bunch said. “There’s school supplies, there’s a lot of things that parents have to take on. So, us being able to take on a little bit of that load is a good thing for the kids and a good thing for the families.”
“It means everything to us,” Dre from Citiboyz said. “When I was little, I remember my mom talking about ‘oh man, this is too much, this is too much,’ but she always made it happen, so now here we are as men making it happen for the kids in the community.
Since starting the event four years ago, the event has grown with not just the people attending, but also with the people that are getting involved with putting it together. It started with Vntg_mets, Jerome McCroy, Citiboyz, Renarts and Ondeckpod and has grown with the Fanatics Fan Advisory Network helping out as well as Ballparkbabes and Mets Jr. helping out as well to almost double the team in size.
“It’s overwhelming to see how much support we have from the community,” McCroy said. “People that are coming out to not only participate in the game, bringing their family for backpacks, spreading the word, the financial impact of supporting us to secure these backpacks.”
“This is just one of those community things that we’ve been doing for four years,” Johnny from Citiboyz said. “It’s awesome, man. There’s kids out here. We got a bunch of vendors. We’re giving away backpacks, school supplies. We’re giving away fits for kids. One lucky winner just won like the golden ticket. That was really awesome.”
Many of the people who helped organize the event were Mets fans or creators and it helps give them an avenue to connect with other fans of the team they love.
Amber from Ballparkbabes is one of them. Her premise is about giving women a community to root for and enjoy baseball. She has been building her fanbase and network for people like her who enjoy rooting for the Mets.
“What I love about this community is we could be in last place, but we always show up at watch parties, even if they suck, we’re always there and we share that passion,” Amber said. “So even if they suck and we’re not cheering for them, maybe we’re ranting for them and it’s just such an amazing community of people. That’s honestly one of the reasons why I started my brand is just like having a space for people to just talk about the Mets and rant about them if need be.”
The main focus of the day was making sure that young people in the community were able to be set up with supplies needed for school. Along with bookbags, the Fanatics Fan Advisory Network joined in giving kids coolers for their lunches.
Fanatics gave out 300 lunchbox coolers for people who attended the event. They were decked out in orange and blue, the colors of the Mets. The Fan Advisory Network started in April in multiple cities, allowing Fanatics to get involved with communities not just on a sports level. They helped host a Knicks fan meet-up and the softball event was another one to help families in the New York Area.
“People are sports fans, but people also have families and people have kids and we want to incorporate and pass that tradition down,” Robert Lefkowitz, the community manager of the New York region of the Fan Advisory Network, said.
Additional reporting by Dylan Christie
