Yankees help grieving kids at Experience Camps through HOPE Week

NEW YORK — Tommy Kahnle worked the arcade room, making his way from “Ring Toss” to “Down the Clowns” to “Zombie Snatcher.” Ron Marinaccio and Ian Hamilton leaned over an intergalactic-colored kiosk playing modern “Pong.” Jose Trevino and Clay Holmes tried their luck at “Halo: Fireteam Raven.” Trent Grisham leaned back in an orange chair, tilting and willing his race car in “Typhoon.”

These were some of the scenes from Day 3 of HOPE Week, when the Yankees continued their annual community outreach initiative with a morning of fun and arcade games at Dave & Buster’s Pelham Manor. For two hours Wednesday morning, every one of those players was flanked by a child from Experience Camps, a national, no-cost summer camp that transforms the lives of grieving children who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling or primary caregiver through year-round initiatives. Victor González, Jahmai Jones, pitching coach Matt Blake, third-base coach Luis Rojas and bullpen coach Mike Harkey were also among the Yankees contingent drawn to the cause – and the games.

Sometimes, it was hard to tell who sported the wider grin.

“It’s fun for everybody, even the adults,” Holmes said. “It’s special. It’s always fun to bring some joy to people.”

Last year, Experience Camps hosted more than 1,400 kids with approximately 800 volunteers across 13 different locations around the country. Millions of kids and teens lose a parent or sibling every year, with one in five children losing someone close to them by the end of high school, the organization said. Experience Camps strives to help kids work through the trauma that results from these losses, which can lead to myriad social and emotional difficulties.

“I think it is so apropos that we are being recognized for HOPE Week because that is very much what we do here at Experience Camps,” the organization’s CEO, Sara Daren, said. “We provide experiences that show kids when they are grieving that there is hope — that there is hope for a future, that there is hope for a life of possibility, because there are people who understand what they’re going through and people who care about them and support them.”

For the 15th year of HOPE (Helping Others Persevere & Excel) Week, the Yankees decided to identify causes with a common theme for the first time. That theme is “Finding the Good in Social Media.” To that end, they found a natural partner in Experience Camps, which has used social platforms to vastly expand its impact in recent years.

Team spokesperson Jason Zillo said the Yankees became aware of Experience Camps through a social media post, which is fitting and speaks to why the organization fits so well into this year’s theme. Experience Camps started with 27 kids in 2009, growing slowly on a year-to-year basis through outreach into the grief community and from personal referrals. As recently as 2021, only 10% of applications came from people who learned of the camp online. However, since creating social media profiles on TikTok (162K followers), Instagram (65K followers) and Facebook (10K followers), that percentage has quickly risen to 70%.

The Yankees donated $10,000 to Experience Camps and have donated more than $1 million through HOPE Week initiatives since its inception in 2009.

“I think what Experience Camps is doing is amazing — bringing people together and showing them there is hope,” Holmes said.