On the baseball team’s first full day in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, we had an early wake up call as the team gathered for a hearty breakfast of eggs, sausage, and biscuits on the Myrtlewood Villas property.
Once everybody finished eating, we piled into the bus for a short ride to the Myrtle Beach location of the Lowcountry Country Food Bank, an organization based one hundred miles south in Charleston. At the Food Bank, the team was introduced to Brian, one of the head operators of the Myrtle Beach branch of the Food Bank. Brian gave the team a brief rundown of the company’s history, mission, and outreach in the coastal counties of South Carolina. Additionally, Brian explained that the need for food in the Myrtle Beach area is ever-growing, as the jobs in the area dry up once tourist season ends in October.
After Brian’s introduction of the company, the players and coaches went into the property’s main warehouse, where we proceeded to sort various foods into different boxes to be packaged up and sent to families in need. Once this task was completed, the team departed for the Ripken Baseball Fields, where the opening practice was held. We practiced for about two and a half hours before leaving the fields to eat lunch at a shopping center. The team returned to Myrtlewood Villas at 3:30, and we are currently stationed here until the bus picks us up for our 6:30 game.