Q&A: How The New York Yankees Bring HOPE To Life

There are few brands in the world, let alone sports, that rival the power of the New York Yankees.

One of the areas the Yankees have also blazed a trail is in philanthropy, where they have created HOPE Week, a time in the heart of the season when the entire organization earmarks a wide variety of causes in and around New York, and acts on those causes with a series of projects. HOPE Week has become a focal point of what the Yankees as an organization and players such as Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter do throughout the year to inspire and assist others in the community.

Big Lead Sports spoke with Yankees COO Lonn Trost about the efforts of HOPE Week 2011, which ran July 25-29.

Big Lead Sports: The Yankees brand around the world is really incomparable. How does HOPE Week extend or enhance that brand value?

Lonn Trost: HOPE Week was a brilliant idea by Yankees Communications and Media Relations Director Jason Zillo, which was adopted for what it was – a beautiful opportunity to inspire individuals to make a difference in people’s lives.

BLS: HOPE Week encompasses the whole organization. How does it help connect the ties from those on the business side to the players through these community service initiatives?

LT: We are lucky and fortunate that everyone participates enthusiastically in these events. There is no directive guiding participation – it happens by desire. The honorees are so compelling and the nature of the event brings out the best in everyone from the front office to the players.

BLS: Any conversations with other teams about a joint winter/summer effort?

LT: We are flattered that the Minnesota Twins were inspired to hold their own HOPE Week this season. I can only speak for our organization when I say that this kind of outreach has been incredibly rewarding for us, and we offer our encouragement to anyone interested in partaking in their own HOPE Week initiative. I am not comfortable listing names, but other organizations, including a number of companies that are not sports franchises, have reached out to us to discuss how we approach and accomplish this initiative.

LT: There are two events from HOPE Week 2011 that stick out for me. On Thursday, July 28, we honored 17-year-old Megan Ajello, who is a tireless volunteer in her community and advocate for the disabled in her Staten Island community – despite having cerebral palsy and many other serious medical complications. General Manager Brian Cashman along with Yankee Stadium carpenters surprised her at her front door with a custom-built lemonade stand for the charity fund-raising event she was holding that day. When we found out that one of her dreams was to have a dunk tank at her event, we had one set up on her front lawn, which Brian was the first to jump into. Megan’s smile throughout the day was a joy to see.

The following day, we reunited two young men, John Lahutsky, 21, and Andrei Sullivan, 19, who were best friends growing up in terrible conditions in a Moscow orphanage who had not seen each other in 14 years. It is hard to find words to describe how powerful that moment was.

BLS: Has there been thought to expand the effort outside the team to include celebs or other bold face names who are close with the team?

LT: Involving celebrities is something that we are already incorporating into HOPE Week. When we honored Daniel’s Music Foundation on Monday by hosting a concert for them in the Brooks Atkinson Theater on Broadway, Latin music star Romeo joined us along with our former centerfielder Bernie Williams, who is a Grammy-nominated jazz artist.

On Tuesday, Joe Torre participated in our event in which we honored Tuesday’s Children, an organization that looks to heal the wounds from the tragedy of September 11.

On HOPE Week Wednesday, we recognized Haitian earthquake refugees from a Catholic school in Queens. We wanted to make them feel like the city was behind them, so we reached out to our friends at the Empire State Building, who gave them the honor of lighting that tower that night. After the ceremony, we went to St. Patrick’s cathedral, where we were met by Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who couldn’t have been more gracious and enthusiastic about being a part of HOPE Week, giving the Haitian children a tour of the church and his private residence.

Thursday’s lemonade stand event attracted Cake Boss Buddy Valastro, Sports Illustrated swimsuit models Julie Henderson, Christine Teigen and Kate Upton, along with actress Melissa Joan Hart and the Nets Dancers. In the final event of the week, John and Andrei were reunited at the Today show, where they were front row guests for a plaza concert with Journey.

The entire week produced unforgettable moments, which is in line with the goal of the initiative – to make reaching out to those in need an everyday part of one’s life.

Photos courtesy New York Yankees

(Top) Derek Jeter during HOPE Week on a double-decker bus tour of Manhattan with Haitian refugee Charles Boute. Stops included the Empire State Building and a tour led by Archbishop Timothy Dolan of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Jeter’s private residence.

(Bottom) HOPE at the Today show.