Rays volunteers helping Tampa area rediscover sense of normalcy

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

TAMPA, Fla. -- It wasn’t long after Hurricane Milton ripped through Florida’s Gulf Coast, tearing most of the roof off Tropicana Field and devastating communities still reeling from the impact of Hurricane Helene, that Rays staff members started to mobilize.

Many were dealing with the effects the back-to-back storms had on their own lives and families. The homes lost, possessions ruined, neighborhoods littered with remnants of trees and fences and piles of debris. They were working remotely, unable to get back inside their damaged offices at the Trop, but nonetheless wanted to come together.

“Our staff is people-first. We’re such a community-minded organization, and we’re a resilient bunch,” said Kim Couts, the Rays’ director of community engagement. “So many of our staff members had reached out to say, ‘How can we help? What can we do?’ Which was just a testament to the great people that work in this organization.”

Over the past two months, between the consecutive hurricanes and the approaching Thanksgiving holiday, the Rays have filled 145-150 volunteer spots to serve 400 hours in response to Helene and Milton. Responding to their partners in the community and others in need, the Rays Baseball Foundation and team employees have taken part in numerous events and other volunteer opportunities to help where they can.

“We had people that wanted to help and were able to work with our partners and find those projects and find out where the greatest needs were,” Couts said.

Among the Rays’ hurricane relief efforts:

• They packed and/or distributed 50,000 meals in partnership with Feeding Tampa Bay.

• They completed more than 1,800 loads of laundry for more than 500 people through the Laundry Project, which assists lower-income families with washing their clothes and linens.

• Team volunteers spent hours cleaning up debris at Girls Inc. Pinellas, in partnership with the United Way Suncoast, to make sure the 50 girls in that program had a safe outdoor space.

• Rays staff volunteered with Tampa Bay Watch for an erosion prevention project, creating oyster reef balls that will eventually help filter 1.5 million gallons of water per day.

• They recently teamed up with Team Rubicon, a veteran-led humanitarian organization, to clean up debris and brush at two homes in St. Petersburg. Along with the volunteer event, the Rays Baseball Foundation donated $25,000 to Team Rubicon.

• In addition to their volunteer hours, the Rays Baseball Foundation committed $1 million to hurricane relief efforts in the wake of the storms, and that money has been distributed to many non-profit organizations serving the area. The Rays have also directed fans’ donations to the Rays Baseball Foundation toward hurricane relief.

• All proceeds from the upcoming Running with the Rays 5K, set for Jan. 12, will benefit hurricane relief efforts in the Tampa Bay area.

• Additionally, the Rays announced that all proceeds from purchases of the Tampa Bay Strong merchandise will benefit hurricane relief through the Rays Baseball Foundation.

This work will continue for the Rays, as their employees continue to get back on their feet in a new office space near Tropicana Field and work to regain some sense of normalcy in their lives following two devastating storms. The Rays’ annual “Week of Giving” is set to return the week of Dec. 9, when they will partner with a number of local non-profit organizations, including some work related to hurricane relief.

Rays closer Pete Fairbanks was one of four players who took part in a food distribution event with Feeding Tampa Bay, loading cars and trucks with food, supplies and even pet food in Lot 9 outside Tropicana Field last month. For all the baseball-related questions the sight of the Trop might have inspired, and all the uncertainty the storms have created regarding the Rays' future, he understood there was more at play.

“We all know people that were impacted by it, but also, there were a ton of people that we don't know that were impacted by it,” Fairbanks said. “To be able to help those that were affected, even though we were, from a baseball standpoint, kind of up the creek without a paddle while that's going on, I think, speaks to the people involved and their desire to bring everybody up and not just kind of get bogged down in, 'Oh, crap, we don't have a stadium. Things have been uprooted.’ Let's take that and try to do something positive and work through it together.”