FORT MYERS, Fla. — On Thursday, the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels put down their bats and gloves and traded them for quite different tools.
This week, all teams in the Minnesota Twins organization took part in their annual ‘Week of Service’, choosing organizations where the coaching staff and clubhouse volunteer for the day. The Mussels partnered with United Way and served at the I Will Mentorship Foundation in Fort Myers, a non-profit that offers several youth mentoring programs and features an Urban Community Garden.
“We did a lot of different things,” said Mighty Mussels manager Brian Meyer. “We gardened, we built a wall, we painted, we helped build a little infrastructure for a shed they’re building.”
The farm on-site feeds about 2,000 pounds of food, which helps the foundation feed over 100 families per year. After Hurricane Ian, the farm sustained enough damage to set them back more than a year, but the Mussels helped make up some of that time that was lost.
“The bigger picture is we helped put them two to three months ahead of where they are so that they can get back to actually feeding the community,” said Meyer.
“Normally when we have volunteers they come out in groups of two or three and a large group would be about 10 individuals,” said Dr. Jesse Bryson, I Will Mentorship Foundation president and CEO. “Those individuals vary in physical strength. This time we had 35 athletes there. They were able to literally help us do a lot of the heavy lifting that was needed.”
Dr. Bryson said the help from the Mussels will allow the foundation to grow about 500 more pounds of food because they don’t have to focus on rebuilding and recovering what was lost.
“We can actually focus on what our mission is, which is providing food to the shelters and to families of the community,” said Dr. Bryson.
Meyer said the day of service not only benefited the I Will Mentorship Foundation, but also the players themselves.
“Just some team bonding as well and you’ve got some guys doing something that they haven’t done in the past,” said Meyer. “You’ve got guys who were using a nail gun for the first time and wheelbarrowing for the first time. But it was just a good opportunity for them to realize the hard work that does go into a place like this that can benefit so many people.”
For more information on the I Will Mentorship Foundation, you can visit their website here.