Major League Baseball player and Sahuaro High School alum Alex Verdugo is back in Arizona this week to host a local holiday toy drive benefiting the Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Southern Arizona.
The toy drive kicked off Tuesday, Dec. 3, and runs through Friday, Dec. 6.
Donations can be dropped off at Studio 99 Hair Design, 6761 E. Tanque Verde Road, Suite 5, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“I just started my foundation, the ‘Alex Verdugo Family Foundation’ and being originally from Tucson, I wanted to give back to this community,” Verdugo said in a statement to the Arizona Daily Star. “My mom is a breast cancer survivor, so this cause is deeply personal and with me having three kids, it just all connected perfectly to partner up with Candlelighters and help make this a memorable Christmas for some of these kids.”
Sahuaro’s Alex Verdugo (11) eyes his base hit in the fourth inning during the Sahuaro vs. Bradshaw Mountain Division II high school playoff baseball game at Tempe Diablo Stadium on May 9, 2014. Sahuaro won 8-7 on a walk-off in the ninth inning after giving up 4 unanswered runs in the seventh.
All donated toys will be given to the Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Southern Arizona.
Verdugo is a familiar name for baseball fans in the Old Pueblo. The Tucson native grew up in the area and graduated from Sahuaro High in 2014.
Following graduation, the Los Angeles Dodgers drafted him in the second round of the 2014 MLB Draft. He officially made his MLB debut with the Dodgers in 2017.
Verdugo went on to play for the Boston Red Sox and, most recently, the New York Yankees, with whom he went to the World Series earlier this year.
New York Yankees’ Alex Verdugo celebrates after hitting a RBI single against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fifth inning in Game 5 of the World Series, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in New York.
He officially became a free agent last month.
For more information about Alex Verdugo’s holiday toy drive, visit tucne.ws/1rbm.
