Blue Jays José Berríos introduces charitable initiative to inspire the next generation 

For Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher José Berríos, everyone knows how great he has been for the team on the field so far in 2024. However, not many may know about the significant impact he has provided off the field as well.

Berríos has recently begun the ‘El Dream’ charitable initiative in conjunction with the Jays Care Foundation. The funds raised would go towards aiding young individuals both in Puerto Rico and Canada in their development of crucial life skills using the sport of baseball. The initiative would be implemented to help enhance three specific Jays Care programs, namely Challenger Baseball, Girls At Bat, and Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI).

With respect to how the funds will be obtained, Berríos has kindly adopted the ‘José Strikeout Challenge” where he would donate $500 USD for every strikeout that he records during the 2024 MLB season (and rounding up to the $100,000 threshold if he doesn’t manage to reach there). On top of that, Berríos plans on hosting various fundraising events throughout the year, including his current Gold Baseball Fundraiser where he is offering up 100 limited edition personally-autographed Rawlings Gold Baseballs for $250 each to help with the cause.

To Berríos, it means a lot to him as he emotionally stated, “It is my responsibility to support our future generations. Canada has become my home away from home, the love and respect I have received from the whole country makes me feel engaged in contributing to efforts that will impact many lives.”

This isn’t the first time that Berríos has offered his generosity and lent a hand for a great cause. In fact, he has already established a long history of supporting the community, especially for his home in Puerto Rico through the La Makina Foundation. His impressive work included providing new equipment and uniforms for the Woman’s Softball teams, renovating Daguao Community Park and Lab Bayamon to provide safe playing fields and a pitching lab for youths, and implementing Team La Makina to cover costs, travel and equipment for little league teams to name just a few.

With Berríos becoming a key member of the Blue Jays and the city of Toronto as a whole both on and off the field, we should cherish and salute the great human being that we are truly grateful to have on our side.