Miami Marlins Distribute Toys In Liberty City

the Miami Times

By Bianca Marcof

Miami Times Contributor

Dec 16, 2020

The Miami Marlins handed holiday gifts to 120 children through car windows on Thursday at Gwen Cherry Park.

Billy the Marlin, dressed in Christmas gear, had received wish lists earlier this month from the children, all directed to “Santa Billy.” Local nonprofit charter school organization KIPP Miami partnered with the Marlins Foundation for the second annual toy distribution. The event was turned into a drive-through due to COVID-19, a change from last year’s in-person distribution that reflected pandemic safety protocols.

Cars made stops at different stations in the park as the children – all first grade students at KIPP Sunrise Academy – were presented with a wish-list toy, a bat and baseball set, holiday treats and special Marlins memorabilia, by two of the team’s outfielders in attendance, Lewis Brinson and Monte Harrison.

“It’s very important just to know where I come from. I come from the same situation as this city, just in Missouri, so it’s not anything new to me,” Harrison said. “I definitely want to give back to my people and show how much I care about them.”

“Any opportunity I have to put a smile on somebody’s face and make their life a little easier, I want to definitely jump on that opportunity,” Brinson added.

The Marlins players brought their own gifts to hand out – “swag bags” that consisted of sunglasses, towels, headbands and T-shirts. Many children were also given signed shoes, gloves and baseball bats by the duo at random.

Miami Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson handing a gift to a KIPP Sunrise Academy first grader.

Bianca Marcof for The Miami Times

“We had a lot of stuff that we weren’t really using anymore that a lot of kids could use,” Brinson said. “If they can’t use it right now – it might be a little big – they can hold onto it as memorabilia.”

This year, the Miami Marlins Foundation has helped local families weather the pandemic with food, mask and holiday gift distributions.

“Whether it’s events like today with our Holiday Wishes program or our weekly food distributions where we, by the end of the year, will have distributed over 800,000 meals in the Liberty City area and in Little Havana, we are extremely proud of how we’ve supported our community during this difficult time,” said Raquel ‘Rocky’ Egusquiza, executive director for the foundation.

The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.