Hamels Foundation moves to Springfield from Philly

A foundation bearing the name of a major-league baseball player who married a Buffalo native has moved its headquarters to Springfield from Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels and his wife, the former Heidi Strobel, established The Hamels Foundation Inc. in September 2008 to provide financial support to inner-city schools in the United States and to fund construction of a girls' school in the southeast African country of Malawi.

The nonprofit moved its headquarters to Springfield in July, but retains a presence in Philadelphia, where Hamels - fresh off a 2008 World Series win -- is now in his fourth season with the Phillies.

The 25-year-old was named most valuable player of both the World Series and National League Championship Series last year. Hamels and his teammates, including former Missouri State University Bear Ryan Howard, just notched a return trip to the Series, starting Oct. 28.

Hamels and Strobel - a Drury University graduate who participated in the sixth season of the CBS reality show "Survivor" - were married at the Chapel at Elfindale in Springfield on New Year's Eve in 2006. The newlyweds traveled to Africa for their monthlong honeymoon, said Kathy Dugas, Heidi Hamels' mother and the foundation's operations manager. In Africa, the Hamelses visited Malawi and saw the country's poverty firsthand, Dugas said.

"The purpose of this school is so that these girls can learn a trade rather than to go out and prostitute themselves, which makes the AIDS pandemic just spread all over the place," she said.

Dugas, who visited Malawi in July with representatives from the Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance, said the foundation has selected a village for the school.

Stateside, the foundation made its first grant - and largest at $50,000 - in May to Philadelphia's Stetson Middle School for building upgrades and new equipment, including computers and microscopes.

The foundation also awarded grants to three other Philadelphia public schools earlier this year. Two received $10,000 grants, and the third secured a $3,000 grant, according to www.thehamelsfoundation.org.

Dugas said the decision to move the foundation's headquarters to Springfield was mainly driven by two factors: most of Heidi Hamels' family lives in the area, and the Hamelses plan to build an off-season home on about 100 acres they own near Branson. The couple welcomed their first child, Caleb Michael Hamels, earlier this month, and they plan to adopt an Ethiopian child next October.

Right now, Dugas is in the thick of planning a Dec. 4 casino night at the Tower Club that will benefit the African school and an underprivileged Springfield public school to be announced that night.

Tickets, which go on sale Nov. 1, are $200 per person, and the fundraising goal is $60,000, said Dugas, who spent 20 years in the merchandising department at Bass Pro Shops.

Dugas said the amount of the local school grant will depend on how much money the event raises. It will be at least $10,000 and could be as much as $25,000 if the foundation hits its goal, she added.

The Hamels Foundation hopes to make the casino night fundraiser an annual event for at least three years, Dugas said.[[In-content Ad]]