BELLEVUE, Wash.—T–Mobile has announced a "Rally for Relief" effort to help those impacted by recent hurricanes. As part of the campaign, the cellphone carrier said it would donate $25,000 for every home run hit during the World Series and that it would also send $10 to relief efforts when anyone texts ‘RALLY’ to 90999, for a total of up to $1 million.
In partnership with the American Red Cross, Rally for Relief will support communities affected by hurricanes and tropical storms in 2024, including hurricanes Helene and Milton.
“Since hurricanes Helene and Milton made landfall, T-Mobile’s Emergency Response teams have been on the ground helping restore connectivity and assist impacted communities,” Mike Katz, president of marketing, strategy and products, T-Mobile, said. “Now, as those communities are working through the challenging process of rebuilding, we remain by their side, extending our support and enabling baseball fans to join us through Rally for Relief. We’re using one of baseball’s biggest stages to bring attention to these impacted areas and make a difference for the communities that need it most.”
Also Read: Fox Sports Aims To Enhance World Series Coverage With ‘Inside-Out’ Perspective
Donations raised as part of Rally for Relief will enable the Red Cross to help those affected by hurricanes and tropical storms in 2024.
The commitment follows T-Mobile's previous efforts during MLB’s Postseason and its longstanding support of hurricane recovery and restoration efforts, it said.
Since first introducing Home Runs for Hurricane Recovery in 2017, T-Mobile said it has donated over $7.5 million to organizations supporting hurricane and natural disaster relief and recovery efforts. T-Mobile’s efforts have supported the rebuilding of over 30 homes in Florida following Hurricane Irma in 2017 and the building of more than 500 hurricane-resilient roofs in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. The carrier also partnered with the Red Cross to provide connectivity support to over 200 evacuation centers in Florida ahead of Hurricane Ian in 2022.
(This year’s World Series, which starts Oct. 25, could see a lot of home runs. It will feature Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, baseball’s top home-run hitter in 2024 with 58, facing off against No. 2 slugger Shohei Ohtani, with 54 home runs, and his Los Angeles Dodgers.)
As a part of the Rally for Relief donation commitment and campaign, T-Mobile also teamed up with nine-time Grammy Award-winning musician Sheryl Crow to record a new track titled “Light a Candle,” penned by Kobalt Music/Little Louder publishing writer Luke Dick and co-writer and songwriter Ronan O’Mahony. The track will be featured in a new TV spot debuting during Game 1 of the World Series. Crow’s proceeds from the song will be donated to the American Red Cross.
“In the wake of these historic storms, countless individuals have faced life-altering devastation to their homes, their towns and to their everyday lives,” Crow said in a statement. “I'm thankful for the opportunity to lend my voice to the relief efforts in partnership with T-Mobile and give these folks who are truly in need a helping hand. I hope that anyone who hears this song will be inspired to participate and contribute to the cause by donating.”
T-Mobile is launching its Rally for Relief campaign as a partner of Major League Baseball, adding to the nearly $4 million contributed by MLB and its clubs to date.
Also Read: Cox Media Group Provides Nearly $1 Million for Hurricane Relief
As part of its relief efforts, T-Mobile said it sent more than 600 emergency crew members, field engineers and technicians to areas impacted by Helene and Milton. The company’s Network Team deployed and maintained over 800 generators — alongside other temporary connectivity solutions — to rapidly restore coverage to affected sites.
In addition, T-Mobile's Emergency Response Team operated Wi-Fi trailers and trucks, a Mobile Command Center, charging stations and distributed supplies like charging cords and more. Key team members also collaborated with federal, state and local officials, working with emergency management officials and in-state operations centers to ensure prioritization of key recovery areas. More on T-Mobile’s ongoing response is available at: https://www.t-mobile.com/news/emergency-response.
