Syrup City celebrates Jackie Robinson Day

CAIRO, Ga. (WALB) - The Syrup City is celebrating Jackie Robinson Day.

Along with the celebration, the Atlanta Braves hosted a celebration event at the Jackie Robinson Boys and Girls Club by letting kids take pictures with the World Series trophy.

Cairo Mayor Booker Gainor attended the celebration and spoke to the kids in attendance. Gainor said the event was a big celebration for the City of Cairo to honor a local hero.

A Chevrolet Express 3500 passenger van was given to the Boys and Girls Club.

“We really appreciate the way Jackie set the goal for us all.

To try to unite and also he was a pathfinder” said Jackie Robinson’s cousin, Curtis Powell.

Robinson’s path has led to this.

A club that’s named after him and a milestone that influenced people to come together instead of being against each other.

The Braves believed it was only right to make a trip to syrup city.

“We have been working with the Jackie Robinson boys and girls club since 2019 and through COVID , steven francis and Amy Hagan stayed faithful for these kids and continued to reach out to us and to invest in this community and in these kids because I think in the spirit of who Jackie was and what he did that would be somethin he would be proud of” said Sr. Director Of Community Affairs, Atlanta Braves, Danielle Bedasse.

Bedasse said they made an arrangement to have kids from Robinson’s boys and girls club to sing the national anthem at Truist park next week.

Some of the kids may not know much about Jackie Robinson but they gained some knowledge about him and they will remember this day forever.

“I learned that he’s a baseball player and his number is 42. And I got to take a picture with the trophy, I’ll probably never do that again” said Braves fan, Kenley Reneau.

Powell told me they plan to have a family reunion for Jackie Robinson’s grandmother in July.

Copyright 2022 WALB. All rights reserved.