Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez received the Roberto Clemente Trophy on Monday, which is awarded for community involvement and philanthropy.
Perez and his family distribute food and kitchen supplies to more than 2,000 homes each winter in the most deprived neighborhoods of his hometown of Valencia, Venezuela, gestures that have directly impacted 10,000 families over the past 10 years. years.
The 2015 World Series MVP also has a baseball league, for which he provides equipment for the players and financially supports their families.
Perez, 34, has also paid for dozens of surgeries for children with cleft lips, distributed thousands of toys to children’s hospitals and assisted police officers. .
He regularly travels to Colombia to lend a hand to the Carlos Fortuna Foundation, which helps adults be the best parents they can be. He crossed the border on foot during travel restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the United States, Perez has partnered with organizations fighting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in addition to working with Branden-Hope Children’s Hospital in Kansas City. Ultimately, he matched the largest donation to ML youth academies when his foundation gave US$1 million to a Kansas City minor league baseball league.
Roberto Clemente is a former Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He died in a plane crash on December 31, 1972 while on his way to help earthquake victims in Nicaragua.
