Smithfield Kids with Special Needs Get Fenway to Themselves Thanks to CVS, Red Sox

CVS Caremark and the Boston Red Sox teamed up to provide baseball players from Smithfield and Northern RI with a special experience at Fenway Park Tuesday. 

Players from the Glocester Little League Challenger Team – a baseball team devoted to children with physical and/or developmental disabilities – had Fenway Park all to themselves at a CVS Caremark All Kids Can Baseball Camp. 

Through the camp, the players experienced what it’s like to be a Major League Baseball player for a day as they worked one-on-one with Boston Red Sox Hitting Coach Greg Colbrunn and Assistant Hitting Coach Victor Rodriguez, posed for photos in the Red Sox dugout, and enjoyed lunch in the Champions Club.

The CVS Caremark All Kids Can Baseball Camp welcomed players, family members, “Buddies” (peer models who assist the players) and coaches from Glocester and surrounding towns in R.I., including Foster, Harrisville, Pascoag, Smithfield and Oakland, and one player from Putnam, Connecticut. The camp, one of 12 scheduled at Fenway this season for New England children of all abilities, are part of CVS Caremark’s national philanthropic All Kids Can program, which focuses on helping children of all abilities on their path to better health.

“This is our ninth consecutive season of partnering with the Boston Red Sox on the All Kids Can Baseball Camps, and we love being able to provide this opportunity for children of all abilities,” said Eileen Howard Boone, senior vice president of corporate communications and community relations for CVS Caremark. “We always look forward to seeing the joy on the players’ faces as they take in Fenway Park and test their batting skills where the Red Sox play. This camp in particular was very special to us as the Glocester Challenger players are from our home state of Rhode Island. ”

Beth Keeling, coach of the Glocester Challenger Team, said her players were thrilled to play baseball at Fenway Park, "...the camp also made them feel like they were major league ballplayers themselves – getting instruction from the same hitting coaches who work with the Red Sox players and having an opportunity to spend time in Fenway Park. We waited patiently for this day to get here – we were so excited about this cool opportunity! This is truly a joy-filled day and we are incredibly grateful to see how much CVS Caremark and the Boston Red Sox care about our kids – to the extent of creating such great memories for them.”

The Glocester Challenger Team was established 11 years ago as an expansion of a sports program for children with disabilities. The Outreach Program for Sports (TOPS) started with a soccer program and soon included sports opportunities year-round with basketball and baseball becoming part of the program’s offerings. TOPS is able to engage children with disabilities in sports activities throughout the year with the encouragement of Ponaganset High School, Burrillville/Glocester Youth Soccer Association, Ponagansett Basketball Association, and Glocester Little League.