Willmar, Minn. – The Willmar Stingers are excited to announce that over ^$21,200 was raised for community organizations and non-profits throughout the 2018 season. A variety of promotions including jersey and bat auctions, bring your own instrument night, marathon vs. baseball and even robotics night gave Stingers fans and sponsors an opportunity to generate dollars in a unique way for the community.

The 9^th annual Jerseys off our Backs Auction presented by Thrivent Financial throughout the course of the season raised a total of ^$6,085 for the Kandiyohi County Area Food Shelf. This partnership with Thrivent Financial and the Stingers has raised over ^$42,300 for the Kandiyohi County Food Shelf the past nine seasons.

“Community involvement and giving back is something that we take a lot of pride in,” said Stingers General Manager Nick McCallum. “With the support of Thrivent Financial, and our fans, we were able to raise significant dollars for the food shelf to help families in West Central Minnesota,” McCallum added.

The Stingers also partnered with the Southern Minnesota Beat Sugar Cooperative to raise funds for the Renville County Relay for Life Chapter. Custom painted purple bats were used by the Stingers and Waterloo Bucks players during their game on June 21. Fans were able to place bids on these game-used bats that night, raising ^$1,050 for the Renville County Relay for Life.

Cubs Foods partnered with the Stingers for the second straight year on a fan experience auction to raise money for the Summer Learning Loss Prevention Program at the YMCA. 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 ^$1,500 was raised as part of this promotion benefitting the Summer Learning Loss Prevention 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. The two nights combined to raise over ^$3,000.

The Stingers other notable charitable ventures during the season included the Community Christian School Night with North American State Bank, Robotics Night with the MinnWest Technology Campus and Litchfield Marching Band Night with Meeker Memorial Hospital & Clinics. For each of these nights, students affiliated with each program were able to sell tickets as a fundraiser with their respective programs.

The Stingers will open their 10^th season of Northwoods League baseball in late May of 2019. Season tickets for the 2019 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 was presented by Marcus Construction. From start to finish Marcus Construction will make your job easier and build a facility you will be proud of.