Chicago Cubs Pitcher Gives Away Home

Cole Hamels, a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, has donated his

multi-million dollar estate on Table Rock Lake to Camp Barnabas, a non-profit

organization working with special needs children, according to The Good News

Network.

Camp

Barnabas is a non-profit organization that provides a summer camp experience

for children suffering from chronic illness, children with special needs, and

their siblings. Named after the early apostle Barnabas, the program is a

Christian ministry which, according to their website, “provides ministry and

social experiences that increase spiritual knowledge, social learning, and

human dignity”.{{more}}

Hamels

bought the property while playing for the Texas Rangers, apparently intending

to turn the property into a dream home, but decided to donate it when he was

traded to Chicago. Hamels said “Barnabas makes dreams come true and we felt

called to help them in a big way”. Valued at $9.4 million, the property is the

largest donation that Camp Barnabas has received to date.

Andrea

Harp, the Director of Marketing at Camp Barnabas said, “This gift is a game

changer. The lives that will be changed as a result of this will have a ripple

effect for years to come.” She added that in addition to the monetary value of

the property and it’s facilities, Hamels’s donation has also brought Camp

Barnabas unprecedented publicity. Camp Barnabas is now receiving national

attention from Hamels’s good will, rather than only raising money from locals

in southwestern Missouri.

This is

not the beginning of Hamels’s philanthropic work. He also created the Hamels

Foundation, which helps children in Africa and in Philadelphia (Where Hamels’s

MLB career began), as well as adopting a daughter from Ethiopia.

Hamels

began his Major League Baseball Career playing for the Philadelphia Phillies,

where he won the World Series, and he played for the Texas Rangers from 2015

through 2017. Some of his career highlights include being named the MVP of both

the NLCS and the world series, as well as pitching a no-hitter.