Brewers spend day spreading kindness

MILWAUKEE -- Brewers owner Mark Attanasio picked up the lunch tab for an entire restaurant. Jonathan Lucroy bought dozens of tanks of gas. Aaron Hill and Blaine Boyer arrived unannounced at Children's Hospital with a big check. Ramon Flores handed out cash at the grocery store. Keon Broxton paid for purchases at Kohl's.
All around Milwaukee on Wednesday, Brewers players, coaches and front-office staffers spread #KindnessInMKE with surprise acts of appreciation.
"Great experience today spreading joy in the community," tweeted first-base coach Carlos Subero, who handed out lunch money to some Milwaukee-area construction workers.
The activities began Wednesday morning with members of the front office visiting local charities of their own choosing to make unannounced donations from the club. At noon, players began their rounds and spent a minimum of $500 each in gifts at everything from retail stores to kids' events.
There were no rules, just encouragement for each player, coach and staffer to come up with an idea that would be impactful and fun for them and their recipients.
Bob Hallas, who heads operations at Miller Park, made a donation to an animal shelter in Waukesha. Senior director of media relations Mike Vassallo gave to the church where he got married. Nick Watson, who heads the Brewers' IT department, donated to his local food bank. Diny Hurwitz from the marketing department gave to the Sickle Cell Clinic at Froedtert Hospital. Baseball operations manager Matt Kleine bought baseball equipment for the Beckum-Stapleton Little League, and director of audio/video production Deron Anderson gave funds for field maintenance. Assistant athletic trainer Dave Yeager donated to Make-A-Wish of Wisconsin.

Brewers director of new media Caitlin Moyer included more examples of acts of kindness on her MLBlog, Cait Covers the Bases. The team encouraged fans to share their experiences by using the Twitter hashtag #KindnessInMKE.