Every year, hundreds of homes and thousands of acres of land are destroyed by wildfires raging across California. These wildfires are devastating; almost 800 homes, more than 254,000 acres, and 7,000 fires in all destroy land and communities. There are many organizations that help with these fires, and California Strong, one of those organizations, was founded by citizens right here in Wisconsin. 

Lots of people in the city of Milwaukee travel to Miller Park to watch the Milwaukee Brewers play baseball. One of the most widely known players in the MLB is Christian Yelich (2018 MVP). Although he is well known in Milwaukee, he is also well known all the way on the west coast in California. He was born and raised there; Christian Yelich wanted to help the families from where he was raised. 

Many homes, buildings, and nature have been damaged by earthquakes, wildfires, gas leaks, and floods in the past few years in the state of California. Christian Yelich, Ryan Braun, Mike Moustakas, and Mike Attanasio are players who focus their foundation, California Strong, on the wildfire portion of the disasters. The California Strong team and the baseball players support the families by giving them financial aid to help them rebuild their homes that were destroyed by the fires. This helps the families so much because they lost everything in the fires.  At Represent, a t-shirt company, people who designed t-shirts, worked with the Brewers and Christian Yelich for wildfire recoveries in homes. Christian Yelich bought a t-shirt with “California Strong” written on it. Yelich saw the struggling families in California and wanted to find a way to raise money, so he sold t-shirts which came to the start of the charity. 

More people started to buy t-shirts and helped the families in California receive money. Even the L.A. Rams quarterback was asked to take part in this project, and along the way, more people kept buying the “California Strong” t-shirts. Christian Yelich was happy with the progress of their charity, so he asked the Brewers to get involved too. Along with Christian Yelich, three other Milwaukee Brewers were born and raised in California: Mike Moustakas, Ryan Braun, and Mike Attanasio. Christian Yelich and the Brewers got involved in California Strong when they raised money to rebuild the homes and give financial aid to those affected by the natural wildfires. 

California Strong has become a popular name all around the world. The financial aid given from this foundation has greatly impacted the families who lost their homes, or who ended up with injuries in the hospital. With the help of these genuine baseball players, many homes, communities, and land have been refurbished and built like new. The hardworking team of California Strong has put in effortless hours to support California and its people. 

References

“Maximize Your Impact.” Center for Disaster Philanthropy. Center for Disaster Philanthropy, 2020. disasterphilanthropy.org/consulting-services/

Lukas, Paul. “How the Milwaukee Brewers Became ‘California Strong’” Uni Watch. Uni Watch, 28 March 2019. uni-watch.com/2019/03/28/how-the-milwaukee-brewers-became-california-strong/