It all started with a few phone calls and text messages.
With the Major League Baseball season suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic and protests across the country after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, Black baseball players worked together to create the Players Alliance.
The group, which features around 150 current and retired Black baseball players, raised money last season when players donated their salaries for two games when the league celebrated Jackie Robinson Day. MLB and the players’ union pledged $10 million to the group over the next five years, too.
The result: The Players Alliance partnered with Pull Up Neighbor, a Black-owned community response team, to deploy a pop-up pantry in more than 30 cities across the country in December and January.