Mets: Three community outreach initiatives Steve Cohen should implement

The New York Mets have a respected history of charitable giving, and under Steve Cohen’s ownership, they should take these efforts to the next level.

As the new owner of the New York Mets, Steve Cohen takes over both the product on the field and the team’s community outreach off the field. He has already stated that his wife Alex will be running the Mets Foundation, the team’s main outlet for charitable giving. The Cohens have their own charitable organization, aptly named The Cohen Foundation. To date, this foundation has donated $625 million, spread across 3,032 grants, to causes including lyme disease research and prevention, underserved communities, children’s hospitals, and the arts.

The Mets have engaged in many outreach initiatives through the Mets Foundation, which was founded in 1963. They prominently support causes like youth baseball development, military and first responders, and other New York-area organizations like the Mary Brennan Inn and New York Cares.

Regardless of this existing generosity, in one of his first statements as the Mets’ new owner, Cohen pledged to “dramatically increase the giving of the Mets Foundation in the coming years, with priority given to non-profits and causes in communities surrounding Citi Field.” With that in mind, here are a few outreach initiatives that I would love to see during Cohen’s time as owner.

Youth baseball games played at Citi Field

In the past, the Mets have partnered with Little League baseball teams, such as East Rockaway Little League, to sponsor events like the “Future Stars Game” that was scheduled for June 2020 before the pandemic prevented fans from attending regular season games. This event would have featured a pregame parade for members of the Little League team, followed by tickets to that night’s Mets game.

That is all well and good, and I am sure that the kids would have gotten a kick out of going on the field before the game. But what if the Mets took it one step further and actually allowed local Little League teams to play baseball ON the Citi Field grass? Something like this could take place during the All-Star break, when the Mets have no scheduled home games for several days straight.

The Mets did a similar event back in 2013, several days before the 2013 All-Star game at Citi Field. Two local Little League teams, the Queens Kiwanis Champions and the Glen Oaks Little League Challengers, faced off in a one-inning game on the outfield grass at Citi Field. Since then, it does not appear that the Mets have made events like this one a yearly occurrence.

During the next phase of Mets ownership, I would love for the Mets to bring back “on-field Little League games” on a more regular basis. Not only does it endear them to local Little League organizations and the surrounding community, but it gives the kids a very tangible experience of what it might feel like to one day achieve their goals of making it to the major leagues.

In an era where MLB is wondering how to grow the game, perhaps getting more teams to give Little Leaguers a taste of the big-league experience might excite kids enough to keep playing, watching, and sharing the game for years to come.

Recognizing and helping New York’s artistic community

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the areas of life most drastically affected has been the performing arts industry. Virtually all live performances in the New York theater and music circles have been shut down since March 2020. Sports are lucky that TV revenue somewhat makes up for the lost sales due to no fans in the stands, but live theater and performing groups are not so lucky.

The Cohen Foundation has funded many arts education programs, exhibitions, and arts enrichment opportunities through museum visits. In total, the Cohen Foundation has donated over $63 million to arts-related initiatives since its inception in 2001.

With the Cohens at the helm, the Mets Foundation should take advantage of their owner’s interest in the arts and support charities who contribute to the artistic community that makes New York such a vibrant place to live. Nonprofit organizations like the Queens Council for the Arts and Arts for All help bring the arts to as many people in New York City as possible, many of whom might not have access to museums and performances otherwise.

Other arts nonprofit organizations are not specifically focused on New York but provide significant relief to its many entertainers, such as The Actor’s Fund.

It may seem like performing arts and baseball are two worlds apart. However, both industries are in the business of entertaining and uplifting the general public. The Mets, under Steve Cohen’s ownership, have a unique opportunity to make their support of live entertainment in New York even stronger. By aiding nonprofits in a non-baseball sector of the entertainment business, Cohen can demonstrate that the Mets are enthusiastic about supporting other forms of entertainment in the New York area and preserving the culture of New York as a whole.

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All of these charitable initiatives align with what the Mets are already doing or with causes that the Cohens strongly support. Mets fans care most about the on-field product that Cohen will help put together, but they also want to feel proud of the team’s morals. With a bevy of worthy causes all around them, the Mets have no excuse not to further cement themselves as generous and thoughtful residents of Flushing, Queens.