Brad Ziegler’s New Charity Supports Military Families

As we take this Memorial Day to honor and remember those who lost their lives fighting for this country, two Bay Area ballplayers are doing their part to ensure that our troops will not be forgotten.

Barry Zito’s charity, Strikeouts for Troops (see my May 15 post) was highlighted at today’s Giants game. Across the Bay, A’s reliever Brad Ziegler also started a new foundation, Pastime for Patriots. The charity launched on May 8 and aims to accomplish several goals, including providing college scholarships for kids who lost a parent during combat; donating game tickets to military families; and providing care packages to troops’ families.

A big history buff, Ziegler said that he came up with the idea for his charity after spending time reading a lot of books and watching a lot of movies about the Revolutionary, Civil and World wars.

“The more I dove into it, the more I realized how much these people sacrificed so much for us,” says Ziegler. “There are people still doing that now. I know very well how hard it is to be away from your family because of a commitment that you’ve made.”

“I have no idea what it’s like to be at home when your loved one is half-way around the world,” he says, “but I want to make sure that the families are not forgotten. In some ways, the sacrifices that they are making are as big as the ones being made in the Middle East.”

Ziegler purchased 200 tickets – an amount which was matched by the A’s Community Fund – for the A’s vs. Tampa Bay game on May 8 and donated them to military families. He will do the same for several more games this season. Ziegler hopes to have a web site up soon, promoting Pastime for Patriots, and has plans to host several fundraising events, including a benefit concert, poker night and a silent auction.

“In some ways, it’s tragic to me that we have to have a holiday to bring out patriotism,” Ziegler says. “The (troops overseas) don’t get days off. Every single day is the same for them. We should never stop supporting them and never stop showing our appreciation.”