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South Jersey Baseball:
Grand Slam We Care Foundation And Wachovia Team Up For Annual Educational Winners Circle Grants
Over One Half Million Dollars Raised for Non-Profits Over Last Ten Years...

Tuesday, March 16, 2004

By Dan Loney
Trenton Thunder Baseball Club

(Trenton, NJ) The Grand Slam We Care Foundation and its two member organizations, the Trenton Thunder and Lakewood BlueClaws Minor League Baseball teams, are once again teaming up with Wachovia Bank for the charitable community initiative called the Educational Winners Circle. The initiative helps fund educational opportunities for children in the Trenton and Lakewood communities.

The program consists of the Thunder and BlueClaws each donating five cents for every ticket sold during their respective seasons. Wachovia Bank also makes a donation of five cents for each ticket sold at the two parks. The program is entering its eleventh year and has raised $548,000 for children in the greater Trenton and Lakewood areas.

"Wachovia values its partnership with both the Trenton Thunder and Lakewood BlueClaws," said the bank's Regional President Susanne Svizeny, "and we are especially pleased to sponsor the Educational Winners Circle with both teams. Supporting non-profit agencies that provide educational opportunities to at-risk youngsters is consistent with both our community and philanthropic strategies," she continued, "and this initiative clearly leads to the kind of shared success we're committed to fostering in the communities we serve."

Organizations may apply for Educational Winners Circle Grants from either the Thunder or BlueClaws. Each team offers a $25,000 main grant with the remaining dollars split between two or more non-profit groups in each region. Last year, the main grant of $25,000 from the Thunder was awarded to the The Children’s Home Society with the remaining funds divided between Friends of Teen Arts and the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen’s Adult Education Program. In Lakewood last year, the main grant recipient was Aslan Youth Ministries, Red Bank, while the Ocean County YMCA and Algonquin Arts were the secondary grant recipients.

“We are honored and thrilled to again have Wachovia as a partner in this very important program,” said Thunder and BlueClaws president Joseph Finley. “To help such worthy organizations is tremendously gratifying.”

Interested organizations can print an application for either team from the upcoming events page of www.grandslamwecare.org. If you would like more information about the program or would like to request an application you can contact the Trenton Thunder at (609) 394-3300 or Lakewood BlueClaws at (732) 901-7000. You may email your request to the Thunder at bill@trentonthunder.com or the BlueClaws at bpollock@mail.lakewoodblueclaws.com.

The Trenton Thunder are the Double A Eastern League affiliate of the New York Yankees and the Lakewood BlueClaws are the Single A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.