Dodgers host annual children’s party
by Rowan Kavner
Clayton Kershaw, Alex Verdugo and Matt Beaty helped add some holiday cheer for more than 300 children who are currently experiencing homelessness.
The Dodgers played host at Dodger Stadium for a day of fun and games at their annual children’s holiday party. Playworks Southern California facilitated the inclusive games and activities designed to build a positive play environment through energy and imagination.
The students from Solano Avenue Elementary and Schools on Wheels — a non-profit organization that provides free tutoring and mentoring to children from kindergarten through 12th grade living in motels, shelters, vehicles, group homes, and on the streets in Southern California — got to take part in snowball fights with Kershaw, make snowmen with Beaty and play games with Verdugo.
Verdugo said he’s still young himself, and he knows how much getting to meet and hang out with professional players would’ve meant to him.
“For these kids, their families, they’re from LA so their families are big Dodger fans, it’s like they grow into it,” Verdugo said. “The fact that they can come out here, have fun, be kids, be themselves and get to hang out with us, they get a little bit of that personal, ‘Oh man, I got to hang out with Alex, I got to hang out with Clayton — any little memory we can kind of put in their minds and have them cherish growing up, it’s special to me and I’m happy to be part of it all.”
Lunch was also provided to each child courtesy of Levy Restaurants, and all participating kids received a pair of shoes donated by Skechers.
