Twins, Red Sox partner to support southwest Florida hurricane relief

The Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox are teaming up to support relief efforts in southwest Florida following Hurricane Ian.

Tuesday, the teams announced a joint donation of $200,000 to five Lee County nonprofits focused on recovery efforts.

Of that $200,000, the clubs say half will go to Collaboratory, which was formerly called the Southwest Florida Community Foundation. The other half will be split between the Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida, the Lee Health Foundation’s SWFL Stronger Together employee relief fund, the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, and the Community Cooperative’s Lee County Strong fund.

Both teams operate their Florida facilities out of Fort Myers, in Lee County.

“Lee County is a special part of Twins Territory, and we – along with our friends and Fort Myers neighbors, the Boston Red Sox – will be there for our Southwest Florida family in this time of recovery, as they have always been for us,” Twins President and CEO Dave St. Peter said in a statement. “The Twins have readily given the Lee County Sports Complex to house first responders, stage emergency vehicles and distribute more than 1 million meals through World Central Kitchen; now, we hope these new funds will assist our community partners in their critical efforts to ease the suffering wrought by Hurricane Ian. At the same time, we recognize that much work remains. We are committed to providing our continued support as this beloved region rebuilds in the days, weeks and months ahead.”

“Lee County has been the home of Red Sox Spring Training since 1993 and in that time, we have built a strong bond with countless fans, local officials, and partners in the area. We know how resilient our Southwest Florida community is, and we, along with our neighbors down the road, the Minnesota Twins, will continue to do all that we can to support our community as we recover from the devastation of Hurricane Ian,” Red Sox President and CEO Sam Kennedy added. “We are grateful to the local, state and federal officials, organizations and volunteers on the ground in Lee County who continue to focus on recovery and relief efforts, as well as our Red Sox employees, families and teammates in Fort Myers, who have worked tirelessly every day to make JetBlue Park available for recovery response teams. As we look to the future, the Red Sox stand ready to support Lee County as we rebuild our community together.”

In the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, the Twins said its facility was used as a staging area for first responders. The facility suffered moderate wind damage and limited water damage, which the team classified as relatively minor fixes.