This is the 10th year that Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox will lead hundreds of excited 6th grade Diamondbacks fans into Chase Field, Wednesday afternoon, April 25, 2007 to see the D-Backs take on the San Diego Padres. The children live in the shadow of Chase Field, yet may not be able to afford to attend games. Wilcox calls it the Inner City D-Backs Jam.
The past nine years were so successful, this year, the Diamondbacks asked Supervisor Wilcox to bring even more kids -- 2,000! Therefore, this year, there will be two D-Backs Jams. Students from Murphy and Phoenix Elementary School Districts will go the April 25th game, and students from Roosevelt will go the May 4th game against the New York Mets.
The children have come to look forward to when they are eligible to attend the D-Backs Jam. They must earn their tickets by donating five hours of community service. “These kids have given ten thousand hours to our community,” says Supervisor Wilcox. “In addition to earning tickets, they’re learning about giving back.”
The children will all gather at Grant Park, 3rd Avenue and Grant Street, at 4:30 PM. There will be a “cheer the loudest” contest among the schools and the winning school will lead all the kids on the march to Chase Field where they will get hot dogs, a drink. Each school will select an outstanding community service recipient and the top four outstanding students will receive special awards for outstanding community service at home plate before the game begins at 6:40 PM.