Rangers make a Pawerful impact with puppy calendar

This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ARLINGTON -- It’s always been a dream for Jacklyn Gray to put together a puppy calendar. Luckily for her, the Rangers were able to make her dreams come true.

Rangers pitcher Jon Gray and his wife Jacklyn spearheaded the return of the Texas Rangers Pet Calendar, which was released last week.

The 2023-24 calendar covers 18 months -- from July 2023 to December 2024 -- and features Texas Rangers players and manager Bruce Bochy posing with their pets and pets rescued from The Pawerful Rescue in Royse City, Texas. Proceeds from the calendar sales will benefit The Pawerful Rescue, which is a non-profit animal rescue center that works to provide a safe and comfortable home for all animals.

The Grays are more than familiar with the organization and no doubt wanted to continue helping out. Since the beginning of the 2022 season, Jon Gray has also donated $100 per strikeout to The Pawerful Rescue. Both of the Gray’s dogs -- Yorkies named Sophie and Trunks -- are rescues.

“The Rangers were like, ‘We will facilitate anything you want to do, you name it, we'll do it,’” Jacklyn said of the calendar. “They have stood true to that. They put in all the grunt work and help to coordinate everyone and get the sponsorships. They just did a very, very big job standing behind us and supporting us and then it really is a dream come true for us.

“And to be able to partner with the Pawerful Rescue was definitely another dream come true. They're really doing great work. The dogs that they’re helping are dogs that aren't going to get the help they deserve. Or they’re senior dogs that are living out their last days, or just medical cases or abused, neglected dogs that really need the extra love and care. So we're excited.”

Calendars sold out at the Grand Slam Team Store at Globe Life Field this weekend.

The Texas Rangers Pet Calendar will also be available at a MEGA Pet Adoption event at Globe Life Field, hosted by Sarah and Mitch Garver and the Humane Society of North Texas on July 29.

Sarah is a licensed veterinarian who currently works with the Humane Society, and both of the couple’s dogs -- Chupi and Rip -- are rescues.

“They're going to have 1,000-plus dogs and cats available for adoption,” Dr. Garver said. “So if it's the right time for your family to adopt a pet, it's a great cause to get these animals out of the shelter. We’re helping with that, we will also be donating $10 for every animal adopted to go towards the Humane Society. So it should be a great event. We're hoping to get empty cages out of the Humane Society.”

The Garvers will lead the pet collar mystery bandana fundraiser that will benefit the organization. The sale will feature 100 pet bandanas signed by current Texas Rangers players, with 10 lucky winners also receiving an autographed baseball by a select Rangers player.

More information on the event can be found at www.hsnt.org.

“I think it's a great opportunity,” Mitch added of the event. “We love dogs, we love animals in general, so any chance we get to spread the message, help other people have an opportunity to adopt the animals themselves is super important for us. We're at the stage right now where we have this platform and adoption is a great way to go about getting an animal as opposed to buying a puppy. I mean, there's plenty of good animals out there and these two [of ours] are adopted. That's probably how we'll always do it.”