Red Sox and Red Sox Foundation to celebrate Juneteenth with events in Dorchester and Roxbury on Saturday
BOSTON, MA – The Red Sox and Red Sox Foundation will celebrate Juneteenth by bringing baseball clinics and elements of Fenway Park to Dorchester and Roxbury this Saturday, June 19, the day marking the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States, commemorated on the anniversary of the general proclamation of emancipation in Galveston, Texas, in 1865.
This Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. the Red Sox, in collaboration with the Boston Area Church League, will host a community event in Dorchester at Walsh Park, located at 967 Washington Street. The Red Sox Showcase Truck will be on hand with games, and Juneteenth-themed giveaways will be distributed to families in attendance. Food, drinks, and the Boston Police Department’s Ice Cream Truck will be available free of charge. The Walsh Park event will also include a mobile vaccination site administered by members of the Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center. The first 100 people to receive vaccinations at the event will be given two free tickets to a Red Sox game this season.
The Walsh Park community event is in collaboration with the Boston Police Department, Prince Hall Grand Lodge, CVS Health, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, Lena Park Community Development Corporation, the Roberto Clemente Foundation, the YMCA, Voila Goodman Sports Program, Freedom House, The William E. Carter American Legion Post 16, Good Shepherd Church of God on Christ, Cheers Boston, and Saint John Paul II Catholic Academy.
On Saturday afternoon, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., the Red Sox Foundation, in partnership with local non-profit MBK617, will host baseball clinics for approximately 100 youth of color between the ages of five and 12 at Orchard Park in Roxbury (50 Orchard Park). The clinics will be composed of one-on-one and group skills instruction for the children and include a baseball bat, ball, and t-shirt for each participant.
The Red Sox will fly the Juneteenth flag above Fenway Park starting this Friday, June 18, and throughout the weekend. Red Sox broadcast partner NESN will also observe Juneteenth and incorporate elements of the holiday into Friday’s 7:10 p.m. Red Sox-Royals game broadcast.