Willmar, Minn. – The Willmar Stingers are excited to announce that ^$13,300 was raised for community non-profits this summer. A variety of promotions including jersey auctions, bring your own instrument to the ballpark and even a marathon at the stadium gave Stingers fans and sponsors an opportunity to generate dollars in a unique way for the community.

The 8^th annual Jerseys off our Backs Auction presented by Thrivent Financial throughout the course of the season raised a total of ^$5,520 for the Kandiyohi County Area Food Shelf. This partnership with Thrivent Financial and the Stingers has raised over ^$36,000 for the Kandiyohi County Food Shelf the past eight seasons.

“Community Involvement and giving back is a very important to our organization,” said Stingers co-owner Marc Jerzak. “With the support of Thrivent Financial and Stingers fans we were able to raise significant dollars to help families in West Central Minnesota. We can’t thank everyone enough for their generosity and commitment to the Stingers and this community,” Jerzak added.

The Stingers also partnered with the Southern Minnesota Beat Sugar Cooperative to raise funds for the Renville County Relay for Life Chapter. The Stingers wore a retro version of their black jerseys as they took on the St. Cloud Rox on June 22. Fans were able to place bids on select jerseys during the game raising over ^$2,400 for the Renville County Relay for Life.

The Stingers other notable charitable ventures during the season included the Community Christian School Night with North American State Bank, an autographed bat fundraiser, and two separate fundraising efforts with Willmar High School.

The 5^th annual Community Christian School Night presented by North American State Bank created a unique fundraising event that raised dollars for the school through proceeds from ticket sales, Stingers fan experiences, and ^$100 donated for every run the Stingers scored. The Stingers scored five runs versus Duluth on June 12 and ^$500 was raised for the Community Christian School on behalf of North American State Bank and the Stingers.

A new fan experience was created to help raise money for the YMCA Mentorship Program in conjunction with Cub Foods. Ten painted Rawlings bats were auctioned off, with the winning bidders being able to use that bat to participate in batting practice with the Stingers players. Over ^$1,900 was raised as part of this promotion, with all that money going directly back to the YMCA Mentorship Program.

Hansen Advertising partnered with the Stingers on a fundraising program to benefit two programs within Willmar High School, the Willmar Music Program and Willmar Running Program. Both programs had the opportunity to sell game tickets to raise money for their respective program. They each could showcase their talents on separate nights this summer, with a combined total of over ^$3,000 raised.

The Stingers will open their 9^th season of Northwoods League baseball in late May of 2018. Season tickets for the 2018 season will go on sale November 1. For more information regarding this press release please contact the Willmar Stingers front office at 320-222-2010 or visit www.willmarstingers.com.

The 2018 Stingers season is presented by Marcus Construction. From start to finish Marcus Construction will make your job easier and build a facility you will be proud of.

 

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The Willmar Stingers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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 180 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.willmarstingers.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Stingers as your favorite team.