Padres make Hancock Elementary School kids’ days with special gifts originally appeared on The Sporting News
While the San Diego Padres were preparing for their series opener against the Colorado Rockies on Thursday afternoon, pitcher Joe Musgrove, CEO Erik Greupner and mascot, Swinging Friar, made a trip out to Hancock Elementary School.
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The school’s kids were recently asked to write essays about their dreams in life, and the top essays would earn a new bike.
However, when Musgrove, Greupner and the Swinging Friar showed up on Thursday to give the winners their reward, it turned out every kid at the school got a new bike.
Padres Gift Kids New Bikes
Four months ago, a private jet crashed in San Diego’s Murphy Canyon military housing community, setting several homes and vehicles on fire, injuring multiple people and killing all six on board of the jet.
The Padres have offered support to the families affected by making donations to help cover losses, and recently partnered with Bikes for Kids to provide the kids at Hancock Elementary School new bikes.
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“For some of the families, the parents who might have a hard time getting joy out of their kids right now, I think this is something that can bring some of that to them,” Musgrove said (h/t nbcsandiego.com). “And for these kids that maybe don’t understand the severity of some of the things that happened, maybe some confusion going on in a tough time, I think it’s good to get them a little bit of joy and remind them that it’s gonna be OK.”
The Padres foundation and Bikes for Kids provided roughly 580 kids with a new custom Padres bike and matching helmets. When the kids found out everyone was getting a bike, the room erupted in excitement as you’d imagine.
Musgrove has been out the entire 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery and was able to be part of the special event as the rest of the Padres prepared for their game on Thursday.
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The Padres continue their series with the Rockies on Friday, sitting 2.5 games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West and four games up in the wild card race, with 15 games remaining.
While the team in focused on securing a playoff spot, Musgrove, Greupner and the Swinging Friar were able to bring some joy to the kids at Hancock Elementary School on Thursday.