Rangers Team Up With Meals on Wheels to Create Limited Edition Jams to Benefit Seniors in Need

By Office of Communication

Posted on July 30, 2020, July 30, 2020

Choo’s Cotton Candy Grape, Strawberry/Apple Jelly Gallo, Wild Willie Berry and Wak’s Passion Peach are just some of the new limited-edition jams handmade by Texas Rangers players to benefit local seniors facing hunger.

The jams are available on WakWayFarmsPantry.store with a matching buy-one gift-one going to the Home-Delivered Meals program at Meals On Wheels.

“Baseball players never have the summer off ---the pandemic changed everything and has created a hardship for so many, especially for our most vulnerable seniors,” said Don Wakamatsu, Rangers Bench Coach and founder of the WakWay Foundation. “We wanted to do something positive for our community so I gathered some of the guys in the area and teamed up with the Jelly Queen, Chef Donna Collins, to teach us her craft on how to make jellies and jams.”

Carla Jutson, president and CEO of Meals On Wheels of Tarrant County, said the nonprofit is grateful for the Rangers stepping up to the plate and helping battle senior hunger in Tarrant County.

“Most of our clients don’t interact with anyone other than their meal delivery volunteers on a regular basis, especially during this pandemic, so to see their favorite players from their hometown team make this extra effort to handcraft something especially for them is a huge win for both their emotional and physical well-being,” Jutson said.

The Texas Rangers who participated are:

• Willie Calhoun: Wild Willie Berry

• Joey Gallo: Strawberry/Apple Jelly Gallo

• Shin Soo Choo: Choo’s Cotton Candy Grape

• Darren Oliver: Pitcher Perfect Grape

• Nick Solak: Solak’s Rounding the Bases Raspberry

• Jose Trevino: Trevi’s Peach n Mango Mayhem

• Taylor Hearn: Manganero Spice

• Don Wakamatsu, Wak’s Passion Peach

• Chuck Morgan: TexPAMan 4 Berry Jam

“This project was a blast and with a $48 donation to the Wakway Foundation, folks will receive a custom gift box filled with an autographed jar of one-of-a-kind flavored jam, Arizona Desert Bloom Honey and Snickerdoodle Nut Butter, and a matched gift will go to our seniors,” said Wakamatsu.

The jams are a limited production and a new flavor will be introduced each week. Visit wakwayfoundation.org for more info.

We want to hear from you. Share acts of kindness and good news with us, so we can share them with your neighbors. You can email ideas to [email protected] or send us a message on Facebook. Thank you for doing your part to make The American Dream City a great place to live, learn, work and play.