{"id":1025754,"date":"2026-08-26T18:14:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T18:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1025754\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T18:14:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T18:14:18","slug":"yankees-players-show-out-for-third-annual-willow-gala-from-carlos-rodon-foundation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1025754\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees players show out for third annual Willow Gala from Carlos Rod\u00f3n Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday was a rare off day for the New York Yankees and many of the players took the opportunity to support a good cause by attending the Willow Gala. The event, hosted by the Carlos Rod\u00f3n Foundation, raised more than $1 million to support expanded access to fertility treatments such as IVF.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Carlos and his wife, Ashley Rod\u00f3n, started the gala after their own experience with attempting to start a family. They now have three kids, including their oldest daughter, Willow, who the gala is named after.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we were both raised with a background in our life of trying to help other people when you can,\u201d explained Ashley when asked about the event. \u201cWe were obviously blessed to be in the position that we are with the resources [we have]. It was important that we started this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carlos and Ashley presented the Seeds of Hope award to Samantha Busch, the wife of the late Kyle Busch, who tragically passed away in May. The Buschs run the Bundle of Joy Fund, which is a partner of the Carlos Rod\u00f3n Foundation and does similar work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"BROOKLYN,<\/a>Silo Rod\u00f3n, Carlos Rod\u00f3n, Bo Rod\u00f3n, Ashley Rod\u00f3n, Willow Rod\u00f3n and guests attend the Carlos Rod\u00f3n Foundation 2026 Willow Gala at the Refinery on August 24, 2026 in Brooklyn, New York.(Photo by Bryan Bedder\/Getty Images for the Carlos Rod\u00f3n Foundation)<\/p>\n

A large number of Yankees players showed up for the event, something that the Rod\u00f3n family appreciated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very grateful. They\u2019ve taken their time to do some meet and greets, they\u2019ve donated all sorts of stuff,\u201d said Carlos. \u201cThey have a hand in this, they have a part in this and they help us raise money for this and help people making families.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important for all of us to be here,\u201d said Ben Rice. \u201cCarlos is such a great teammate and what the foundation has done over the last bunch of years has been really special, so it\u2019s a no-brainer to come out here and support him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great cause and they\u2019re easy people to support. I\u2019m excited to be here,\u201d said Cody Bellinger.\u00a0
\n\"A<\/a>A view of atmosphere during the Carlos Rod\u00f3n Foundation 2026 Willow Gala at the Refinery on August 24, 2026 in Brooklyn, New York.(Photo by Bryan Bedder\/Getty Images for the Carlos Rod\u00f3n Foundation)\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat they\u2019re doing hits close to home, just being a new dad and going through that myself. It\u2019s a very important thing in the world,\u201d said Yankees catcher Austin Wells. \u201cWhat they\u2019re doing and what they\u2019re being able to support, we wouldn\u2019t miss this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Yankees players also emphasized the importance of showing up in the community and using their position for good.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been blessed with a talent to be able to play and perform in front of a lot of people, which gives us the platform,\u201d said rookie George Lombard Jr. \u201cThere are a lot of people in the world who weren\u2019t as fortunate and could use the help from us. Whenever we get the chance to help out people in need, it\u2019s very important.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to help other people, be charitable, and give back to everything and everyone\u2026to be able to help out people as much as you can, it\u2019s important,\u201d said Max Fried.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"(L-R)<\/a>(L-R) Cody Bellinger, Spencer Jones, Ben Rice and Will Warren attend the Carlos Rod\u00f3n Foundation 2026 Willow Gala at the Refinery on August 24, 2026 in Brooklyn, New York.(Photo by Bryan Bedder\/Getty Images for the Carlos Rod\u00f3n Foundation)<\/p>\n

There was plenty of entertainment for everyone throughout the event. Comedian Casey Balsham performed a set, and Gary Levox, lead singer of Rascal Flatts, also performed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Carlos Rod\u00f3n Foundation has given out 59 total grants, which have led to three babies being born, another 12 on the way, and 36 other families currently going through treatment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Yankees are back in action this week and are just 3.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East. They\u2019ll be trying to make up that difference as the postseason gets closer and closer.<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Dylan Christie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Monday was a rare off day for the New York Yankees and many of the players took the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1025755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,410353,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,410354,2386],"class_list":["post-1025754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-carlos-rodu00f3n-foundation","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-willow-gala","tag-yankees"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117163174795134402","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1025754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1025754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1025754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1025755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1025754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1025754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1025754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}