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

In the days leading up to LifeWise STL’s early-April reading and math event with Cardinals slugger Jordan Walker and more than 50 area school kids, president and CEO Scott Walker wondered how intimidated and in awe the children would be upon seeing Walker in person.

Within minutes of the event starting, the 22-year-old Cards right fielder had put LifeWise STL’s leadership team – and more importantly, the school children surrounding him – at ease with his megawatt smile and warm, welcoming persona. It is a memory that Scott Walker said will always stay with him from one of LifeWise STL’s most successful events of the year.

“He is a tall young man, but he was amazing with the kids,” Scott Walker said of Jordan. “He was a natural with the kids with the way he related to them. Sometimes folks can be uncomfortable with 50 to 60 kids around them, but he got down at their level, was eye to eye with them and interacted in amazing ways. Like I said, he was a natural.”

Walker, who made his MLB debut in 2023 and set a league record for players under 21 with hits in his first 12 games as a 20-year-old rookie, hails from a highly educated family that has always placed an importance on schooling. His father, Derek, holds degrees from Harvard and MIT, while mother, Katrina, graduated with honors from Harvard and Washington University in St. Louis. Following a stellar high school baseball career, Walker was headed to Duke University on a scholarship prior to being selected in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft by the Cardinals.

Walker told the kids in April and again in September, when approximately 200 high-achieving scholars were awarded a night at Busch Stadium to watch Walker play, that learning and growing have been keys to his success. “Walker’s Winners,” an event designed to motivate school-aged children from pre-K through 12th grade to set long-range reading and math goals, proved to be a highly effective catalyst.

Those students read, on average, slightly more than 13 books thanks in part to the motivation provided by the program set up and orchestrated by LifeWise STL, Ready Readers, Cardinals Care and the Walker family. Most importantly, Scott Walker said, the push to continue reading helped scholars avoid the dreaded “summer slide,” a phenomenon where students fall back academically over the summer months while not sharpening their reading and math skills.

On the September night when the group hit Busch Stadium for a game and free food, it was fittingly seated near Walker’s right-field position so the children could watch their mentor in action.

“We were situated in a spot where when Jordan was out on the field, he was right there by us, and for the kids to see him live and in action, it was amazing for them,” Scott Walker said. “For a lot of these scholars, it was their first time going to a game. To be able to see a person in the gym with them at LifeWise and then see them in action at their professional setting, it was a great connection for them, and they were thrilled.”

With Thanksgiving coming on Thursday and the season of giving upon us, MLB.com wanted to highlight instances of Cardinals players like Jordan Walker giving their time to help others in need. Here is some of the admirable work the Cardinals have done in recent weeks and are planning this holiday season:

• This past week, members of the Cardinals’ organization visited the new Cardinals-themed Family Room at the Ronald McDonald House to spread pre-holiday cheer. Team mascot Fredbird distributed memorabilia and interacted with families.

• The Cardinals supported several veterans/military organizations, and on Nov. 11, team alumni Scott Terry and Lonnie Maclin visited and dined with the Missouri Veterans Endeavor (MOVE).

• In addition to a grant in support of MOVE, grants either have been or will be provided to The Kaufmann Fund, Trees for Vets Program, Got Your Six Support Dogs, St. Louis Service Women’s Post 404, Armed Services YMCA, the Women Warriors Baby Shower and the Veteran Community Project to furnish tiny homes for veterans. Cardinals standout Brendan Donovan, someone whose life was profoundly shaped by his family’s commitment to military service, supported the Houses for Veterans’ event with his time and financial resources.

• On Dec. 4, the Cardinals will kick off their annual holiday gift drive. Two days later, Cardinals alumni and front office personnel, led for years by president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, will ring Salvation Army bells in front of local businesses as part of the Red Kettle campaign for 2024.

• The Cardinals, the St. Louis chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and the National Marrow Donor Program are in the midst of the annual Join4Joe blood stem cell donor drive, an annual blood stem cell donor drive to add individuals to the NMDP Registry. Growing the registry increases the chances of finding donor matches for patients awaiting a life-saving blood stem cell or bone marrow transplant. The campaign was organized to honor the legacy of Joe Strauss, a longtime Cardinals beat writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch who passed away in December 2015 after a leukemia battle.