Mequon, WI – The Lakeshore Chinooks and Jim Meyer of Thrivent Financial partnered this past summer on raising money for the Habitat for Humanity of Ozaukee County. Jim Meyer has been a great supporter of Chinooks baseball over the years as he has been the presenting sponsor of the annual Star Wars Night at Kapco Park. This past summer, Meyer wanted to take things to the next level as he partnered with Lakeshore on the team's first specialty jersey auction for Star Wars Night.
Specialty jersey auctions have become very popular among minor league and summer collegeiate teams the past few seasons. The team wore X-Wing Fighter Pilot (from the Star Wars films) for the July 23rd game. Due to rain and a game cancellation, the jersey auction had to be rescheduled for August 1st.
All players and coaches, including Gill, had their jerseys in the auction which took place on the concourse until the 5th inning of the August 1st game. Chinooks season ticket holders and fans gathered around the auction tables with the hopes of walking away with one of the exclusive Star Wars jerseys. Winners of the jersey auction met the Chinooks players and coaches on the field following the game to receive their jersey, which was then autographed.
All the proceeds, a total of $3,235 from the auction went to the Habitat for Humanity of Ozaukee County. The jersey that raised the most money, our very own Gill. Habitat for Humanity also received the 50/50 raffle for the night and hosted their fundraising night along with the auction.
Jim Meyer had this to say about this year's fundraiser, "I enjoyed working with the Lakeshore Chinooks organization in doing the Star Wars jersey auction for Habitat for Humanity Ozaukee. The players enjoyed wearing the uniforms and we had some enthusiastic bidding at the auction tables. I look forward to working with the Chinooks on another fundraiser in 2017!"
The Chinooks hope to plan another specialty jersey auction as part of the 2017 promotional schedule after the popularity of this year's promotion.
The Lakeshore Chinooks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 160 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visithttp://northwoodsleague.com/lakeshore-chinooks or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store and set the Chinooks as your favorite team.
