Boston’s teams do their part in wake of tragedy
The people of Boston rallied around their sports teams as we attempted to find some normalcy in hockey, basketball, and baseball. But those teams rallied right back around the city, contributing to relief efforts and fundraising in their own ways, and paying tribute to those who helped keep the city safe.
Red Sox
The Red Sox have honored the tragedy’s first responders and victims in quite a few ways. They have honored first responders and representative’s from the different law enforcement groups before their games this past weekend. The team’s website also has a link to The One Fund and promoted Monday’s moment of silence at 2:50 p.m. When the moment rolled around, their website switched to this, also honoring the victims:
Individual players have shown their support through tweets and small gestures like writing “617” on their caps.
Bruins
The guys in black and gold might have made the most touching gesture yet, and anyone who watched the “Shirts Off Their Backs” ceremony on TV or stuck around after the game to see it live could speak to how emotional this one was. The players usually give their jerseys to season ticket holders, autographed, for this event. But this year, in light of the city’s recent events, season ticket holders elected to have the jerseys go to first responders and those affected by last Monday’s tragedy. One by one, first responders walked onto the ice after the Bruins’ win over the Florida Panthers on Sunday, meeting a Bruins player who then literally took the sweater off his back and handed it over. Each responder was given an introduction so the crowd could know exactly how they were involved. It definitely got a little dusty in the Garden during that ceremony.
Brad Marchand is just one of the players to take it a step further, raffling off his suite to the Bruins first playoff game to raise money for the family of Martin Richard. You can check out that raffle here.
Celtics
Celtics players made their own tributes to Boston, some writing “#BostonStrong” on their sneakers. They haven’t returned to Boston yet, as their first round playoff run has begun in New York against the Knicks. Their return to the Garden should prove to be just as emotional as it was for the Bruins. They too have a link to The One Fund on their website.
Patriots
Danny Amendola hasn’t even played a game as a Patriot yet, but the newcomer has made a serious pledge for next season. He tweeted Tuesday that he’d be making donations of his own to The One Fund:
The New England Patriots Twitter account also posted this awesome photo Monday, after Stevan Ridley was just one of the players to make hospital visits to the wounded:
If you’d like to donate to The One Fund for Boston, you can do so here.
#BostonStrong
