Message from Barry Zito
Hello and welcome to Strikeouts For Troops! This cause is very important and I hope you'll join me in supporting our U.S. troops.
For the 2005 Major League Baseball season, I have chosen to help our brave men and women of the military who have been wounded in battle. Many are recovering in Walter Reed Army Hospital and in Bethesda Naval Medical Center from injuries they received during service in Afghanistan and Iraq.
If we all pull together, we can help to make recovery time a little easier by providing such comforts of home as clothing (many of the troops only arrive with the clothes on their back), meals, and entertainment. I'd also like to assist with travel and lodging expenses for their families, so they can spend as much time with their loved ones as possible. All of us cherish the love and support when we are on the mend.
So here's my pledge. For every batter I strikeout this season, I'll donate $100.00 to Strikeouts For Troops to help our war wounded get back on the road to a healthy life. I am also inviting all other Major League Baseball pitchers to match my pledge as well.
During the off-season, I became acquainted with Freedom Alliance, a national 501c3 of the tax code non-profit organization that will assist in the delivery of resources directly to our injured soldiers and their families. They do good work! This effort will be funded by contributions to the "Strikeouts For Troops Fund" at The Community Foundation For the National Capital Region. (www.cfncr.org)
As Americans, we all play for the same team and I encourage fans of baseball and of our troops, to support the Strikeouts For Troops program by clicking on the contribute section of this website. Please stop by often to see how much we all are doing to help our real heroes in uniform!
Thank you very much. See you at the ballpark.