A's Laureano Steps up for Oakland Heathcare Workers and Firefighters

Oakland Athletics center fielder Ramon Laureano celebrated Jackie Robinson Day Wednesday with donations of food to Oakland firefighters and Kaiser Permanente personnel.

A’s center fielder Ramon Laureano is the latest of the Oakland Athletics to step up in the community, celebrating Jackie Robinson Day by providing food for healthcare workers and emergency personnel.

Laureano reached out to the frontline workers in the midst of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday, providing hundreds of meals from Brenda’s Oakland and Sunnyside Catering & Biscuits to firefighters at 24 stations of the Oakland Fire Department as well as healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente’s Oakland Medical Center.

In making the donation, Laureano said, “Oakland has felt like a second home for me since I arrived, so I wanted to do my part and thank those who are keeping us safe every day.

“Collectively we are going through tough times,” he said, “and it is vital that we help each other right now, whether that’s providing meals or support for others or by simply staying home and flattening the curve.”

The A’s have been stepping up collectively since seeing baseball shuttered by the COVID-19 coronavirus with two weeks left in spring training.

In recent days, the organization sent 300 pizzas to doctors, nurses and staff at Oakland’s Kaiser Permanente.

Then Oakland closer Liam Hendriks and his wife, Kristi, sent lunch for 100 City of Oakland police officers and staff on last Thursday, following that up on Friday for members of the City of Alameda police department.

Hendriks said he and his wife wanted to say thanks to “all the essential workers fighting on the front lines to keep us safe,” while Kristi Hendriks said that as the daughter and granddaughter of law enforcement personnel, “I truly know all of the exceptional work that you continue to do. So, thank you.”

Outfielder Seth Brown is taking a one-on-one approach to helping out those who just need someone to talk to. For those sending him a direct message on Twitter at @mrbrown_12, he’ll try to reach out on Skype for a bit of a chat. He’s mostly talked with kids looking to keep their baseball skills honed while in quarantine.

Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3

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