Hamels donates $35K for Dallas-area students

DALLAS — Amid the tree-lined streets and historic beauty in the Dallas neighborhood of Oak Cliff, Texas, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels and his wife, Heidi, introduced the first of what they expect to be many charitable endeavors in their new community.

Cole and staff members of the Hamels Foundation were at Winnetka Elementary School to present three educational grants. The Foundation presented a $5,000 grant to Winnetka Elementary for physical education equipment and supplies, $5,000 to Adelfa Botella Callejo Elementary School in East Dallas for a new counseling corner, and $25,000 for new educational classrooms at the MLB Urban Youth Academy in West Dallas.

“We are so thankful for the grant money that we are receiving for our new counseling center from the Hamels Foundation,” said Sandra Fernandez, principal at Callejo Elementary. “The counseling center will be a haven for all students and parents to engage in purposeful interventions to bring about change and to empower students and parents to make decisions that impact them at school and beyond, positively.”

Hamels made the presentation in the Winnetka Elementary auditorium filled with students. Rangers general manager Jon Daniels and Dallas schools superintendent Michael Hinojosa were among those in attendance in a culturally significant neighborhood — the site of the first 7-Eleven convenience store — that has enjoyed a …

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