{"id":70517,"date":"2025-12-04T03:14:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T03:14:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/70517\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T03:14:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T03:14:53","slug":"former-rays-manager-joe-maddon-returns-for-thanksmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/70517\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Rays manager Joe Maddon returns for \u2018Thanksmas\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> manager Joe Maddon is returning to his \u201csecond home\u201d and helping a local nonprofit break the cycle of homelessness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maddon, a World Series champion and three-time Manager of the Year, will host a fundraiser for his Thanksmas charitable program Wednesday, Dec. 17, at Ava. He co-owns the upscale Italian restaurant at 718 S. Howard St. in Tampa.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maddon officially launched Thanksmas from St. Petersburg in 2006, after becoming manager of the then-Devil Rays. Net proceeds from his upcoming event will support the Homeless Empowerment Program (HEP<\/a>), which ensured that 83% of families who exited its emergency shelter program found permanent housing last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see a lot of stuff going on around Thanksgiving or Christmas,\u201d Maddon told the Catalyst. \u201cSo, I chose any day between that and called it Thanksmas. These folks need our help on any day \u2013 not just the holidays.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The initiative\u2019s roots trace back to the late 1990s, when Maddon<\/a> coached the Anaheim Angels. He rode his bicycle along the Southern California coast and witnessed downtrodden families and veterans pushing their belongings in shopping carts along the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd of course, it bothered me,\u201d Maddon said of the recurring sight. He eventually loaded up his 1969 Chevrolet Impala, drove to a park and handed out supplies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told myself then that if I ever had a larger soapbox to stand on, I would,\u201d Maddon explained. \u201cI would really try to do something to impact the homeless population.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Pennsylvania native, of Italian and Polish descent, said food and kitchens were always \u201ca big part of coming together.\u201d He thought providing a nice meal would also help \u201cbring some dignity into their lives.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey sit, and we serve,\u201d Maddon said of the homeless recipients. \u201cWe want to show them that we don\u2019t see you as being invisible. We see you there. We want to help.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He plans to restart the initiative and selected HEP to host the first event at his Clearwater headquarters. The fundraiser Dec. 17 will aid those efforts. <\/p>\n

Event proceeds will also help HEP provide housing, warm meals, essential resources and wraparound services to low-income and homeless Pinellas County residents.\u00a0Rebecca Lett-Adams, director of development and communications at HEP, noted the nonprofit lacks a large marketing budget. <\/p>\n

She said someone like Maddon showing their support for the organization\u2019s efforts \u201cmakes a huge difference for people who might not normally look at a homeless shelter as being their charity of choice.\u201d\u00a0 Lett-Adams explained that HEP does far more than \u201cjust house homeless individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a whole program here to really break that cycle for men and women, veterans and children,\u201d she added. \u201cWe can talk about it all we want, but when you have a figure like Joe Maddon, who is greatly respected by the community, that really holds a lot of weight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tickets to the event are $150. Guests can mingle with local celebrities, bid on unique auction items and receive an autographed copy of his memoir<\/a>, The Book of Joe.<\/p>\n

Attendees will receive the same meal Maddon serves to homeless residents: A salad, spaghetti and meatballs, homemade pierogi, freshly baked garlic bread, dessert and two glasses of wine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Joe Maddon brought Thanksmas to Chicago, where he led the Cubs to a World Series victory in 2016.<\/p>\n

Maddon and Lett-Adams each credited Rick Vaughn\u2019s efforts. The public relations consultant for HEP spent over 20 years as a communications executive with the Rays and has also authored two books highlighting the area\u2019s rich baseball history<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRick (Vaughn) has gotten a bunch of different Major League Baseball players and announcers to come out here for our celebrity chef series \u2013 they\u2019ve actually served in the kitchen and dining hall,\u201d Lett-Adams said. \u201cSo they\u2019re going to invite, in addition to whoever they\u2019re inviting already, all of the celebrity chefs who have come to the shelter to serve at the (fundraising) event, as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She noted the local need for assistance is \u201cnon-stop and constant.\u201d Lett-Adams said many people who were previously \u201cscraping by\u201d must now choose between \u201cpaying bills and feeding themselves.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

HEP served 848 Pinellas residents in 2024, including 182 children and 343 veterans. While the nonprofit needs the fundraiser\u2019s financial support, Lett-Adams said the awareness it brings is \u201cpriceless for us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maddon said Vaughn was a \u201cdriving factor\u201d for his partnership with HEP. \u201cAnd I love the people there. They have a tremendous program.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maddon noted that St. Vincent de Paul hosted the first Thanskmas meal for St. Petersburg\u2019s homeless population\u00a0\u201cunder an overpass not far from Tropicana Field.\u201d He called Tampa Bay his second home and said he \u201cloves everything\u201d about the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just a snowbird right now, and loving it,\u201d Maddon added. \u201cI joined the St. Pete Country Club. The other day, I saw two eagles chasing an osprey. It\u2019s an incredible place. I\u2019m really drawn here. Very much so.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For more information on the Thanksmas fundraiser, visit the website here.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon is returning to his \u201csecond home\u201d and helping a local nonprofit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-70517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}