Texas clubs team for memorial in Zambia

HOUSTON — The baseball community can do just about anything when it rallies for a cause. There are no boundaries that can’t be crossed, no amount of money that can’t be raised and no sense of purpose that can’t be fulfilled.

Just ask Chris Almendarez, president of the Round Rock Express — Triple-A affiliate of the Rangers. Seven months after losing his wife Jana to a brain tumor, Almendarez and his two sons were among of group of 30 people — including nine members of Astros president Reid Ryan’s family — who boarded a plane for Zambia on Monday for a mission trip that requires nearly 24 hours of travel each way.

The group brought suitcases packed with baseball gear — bats, balls, shoes and countless T-shirts donated from various teams — as well as remembrances of Jana Almendarez, which will be placed in a home built for orphans rescued off the streets of Lusaka, the African nation’s capital. Jana’s House, set to open Jan. 1, will be the home to 12 orphan girls — ages 6 to 15 — and will always serve as a reminder of the power of love, faith and community.

“When I see the house, it’s going to kind of hit home,” Almendarez said. “It’s going to be bittersweet. I’m really excited for [my sons]. All the love and support we’ve gotten over the last 18 months has just been unbelievable.”

Almendarez lost his wife on May 14, following an 11-month battle with stage 4 glioblastoma, an aggressive, malignant tumor. She was diagnosed on June 28, 2015, just six months after the Almendarez family — Chris and Jana, and sons Chase and Luke — returned from a mission trip to Zambia as part Family Legacy’s Tree of Life. The organization rescues children from severe cases of abuse and poverty, and places them in homes where they get a high-school education and can be taught other life skills.

Not long after his wife passed away, Almendarez had lunch with Ryan and his family at the …

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