Areena wanted to bring seniors from a Bronx center to a baseball game and approached the New York Yankees, who were receptive to our idea and suggested we work with New York City’s oldest senior center, the Hodson Center, on the project. Within a week of that initial meeting the tickets were confirmed and on June 21st of 2013, Areena brought a group of forty seniors to Yankee Stadium.
On the day of the game, Areena provided dinner to the seniors at their center, transportation to and from the game and concessions throughout the night. On one of our shuttle busses, as we approached the ballpark, an elderly gentlemen who’d spent his life twelve blocks from the stadium said a few words that resonated with me that evening and will stay with me forever: “I’ve lived here forty years and this is my first time at the stadium.”
For one night, thanks to the New York Yankees, Areena was able to give our seniors a night they richly deserved.