The New York Mets announced on Thursday the launch of ‘The Wright Thing,’ which is a community program created by David Wright to honor and recognize volunteers who made an impact on the lives of individuals and organizations impacted by Hurricane Sandy.
David Wright taking time to honor members of the FDNY will now honor those who served during Sandy with ‘The Wright Thing’ program. Photo by: Stacy Podelski
This season-long initiative seeks to raise awareness that there is more work to be done as New York continues to recover from the effects from Hurricane Sandy.
During Thursday’s game both the Mets and Wright will welcome Jerry Chan to Citi Field as the program’s first honoree. Chan coordinated relief efforts for thousands of resident’s ad Knickerbocker Village in Manhattan; which is a community of 13 buildings that were without power for one month after Sandy.
Chan led a group of volunteers that worked seven days a week, going door-to-door delivering food and supplies to many of the 3,000 middle-to-low-income residents, many of whom were elderly and only spoke Cantonese.
Jerry is a volunteer for the Community Emergency Response Team; which is organized by the New York City Office for Emergency Management.
As a ‘Wright Thing’ honoree Chan will get the chance to meet with Wright before the game and will also receive an autograph mini-replica of third base. He will also get to sit in VIP seats behind third base and be honored on Citi Vision during the game.
Wright was inspired to start ‘The Wright Thing’ program after a trip to Staten Island last December. During that trip David made a 250,000 donation with the Mets Foundation to the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City supporting hurricane restoration efforts.
David was able to witness firsthand the devastation that was caused by Sandy and those images as well as the dedication of all those who took time to help out stuck with the Mets third baseman.
“My visit to Staten Island was truly eye-opening,” Wright said. “I wanted to do something to help repay the thousands of volunteers who devoted countless hours to helping our City recover. It’s an honor and inspiration for me to meet people like Jerry who gave so much of themselves to help others during this ongoing crisis.”
Wright was also a part of a public service announcement that will air in Citi Field about the importance of Sandy relief efforts and encourage those who wish to help to visit NYCService.org.