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HOPE Week (Helping Others Persevere & Excel) will be expanded in 2012, as throughout the season, five Yankees minor league affiliates—the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, Trenton Thunder, Tampa Yankees, Charleston RiverDogs and Staten Island Yankees—will host their own community events, designed to bring to light remarkable stories intended to inspire individuals into action in their own communities.

In following the model established in 2009, each of the five minor league affiliates will reach out to individuals, families and organizations worthy of recognition and support, recognizing honorees with a day celebrating their accomplishments. With outreach often taking place away from the ballpark, Yankees minor league players, coaches and staff will be able to personally connect with participants.

“As an organization, we have seen firsthand the positive impact HOPE Week has made in our community,” said Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman. “We’ve found that giving back is contagious. One of the goals of the initiative has been to inspire others to follow in our footsteps, and I’m proud that our affiliates are expanding this tradition by joining our efforts.”

The Tampa Yankees will be the first club to host HOPE Week in 2012, as they highlight their five stories from June 4-8.

2012 MINOR LEAGUE AFFILIATE HOPE WEEK DATES AND CONTACT INFORMATION

Triple-A Scranton/WB Yankees: Tentatively scheduled for early August / Mike Vander Woude (mvanderwoude@swbyankees.com; 570-510-0020)

Double-A Trenton Thunder: June 19-22 and June 25 / Bill Cook (bill@trentonthunder.com; 609-394-3300, x157)

Single-A Tampa Yankees: June 4-8 / Alex Cotto (acotto@yankees.com; 813-875-7569)

Single-A Charleston RiverDogs: June 25-29 / Sean Houston (shouston@riverdogs.com; 843-577-3647

Short-Season Single-A Staten Island Yankees:TBA in August / John McCutchan (clutch@siyanks.com; 718-313-1333)

MORE ABOUT HOPE WEEK
(Please also visit www.hopeweek.com)

At its core, HOPE Week is about people helping people. The one thing everybody has – no matter their background or financial situation – is time. By involving every player, manager and coach, along with front office staff, during the celebration of HOPE Week, the Yankees organization is sending the message that everyone can give of themselves to make their community a better place.

Equally significant during HOPE Week is garnering publicity for the highlighted causes and organizations. The greatest challenge facing many not-for-profits is generating interest, awareness and funding for their missions.

At the conclusion of HOPE Week 2010 and HOPE Week 2011, the Yankees and the Steinbrenner family were honored with the President’s Volunteer Service Award, given “in recognition and appreciation of commitment to strengthening the Nation and for making a difference through volunteer service.” The awards were bestowed by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation in conjunction with the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Now in its fourth season, the New York Yankees will host HOPE Week at the Major League level from June 25-29, 2012.

The Yankees encourage all their fans to get involved … Give HOPE!