Carlos Beltran of the St. Louis Cardinals just flew down to his native Puerto Rico to the first graduation class of the academy he founded there.
Here is part of a recent article in USA Today about him:
“I want to be a good person, to help kids get an education, to help them achieve meaningful things. That’s what this is all about, and it means everything to me. When you help people you don’t even know, it makes you feel like you really accomplished something.
“There comes a time in everyone’s career when baseball is over. There should never be a time when you stop helping people, and I never will.”
“I believe in education so much, wanting kids to understand how important it is in their lives,” Beltran says. “If you can play sports and make a living out of it, great. But it still doesn’t replace education. That’s in my heart. It will always be in my heart.
“Your baseball skills go away. Your education will stay with you forever.”
Beltran says he fronted $2 million for the academy. Now, there will be 35 kids graduating with a high school diploma, and every one, Beltran says, will play baseball for a U.S. college or university.
“To me, that’s what this is all about,” Beltran says. “It’s not about creating professional ballplayers. It’s about creating opportunities for education.
“If no one plays professional baseball, that’s OK. If they go on and have professional careers in whatever they want to do in life, well, that’s a dream come true.”
The Code says, “I will give of my time, skills and money as I am able for the betterment of my community and world.” What role can you or your team play to help others get the best education possible?
