Shuckers provide tornado relief for local town

This season, the Biloxi Shuckers rolled out their Heart of a Shucker Community Fund, and its impact has already been felt. On Aug. 12, the Heart of a Shucker Community Fund donated $10,000 in tornado relief efforts to Moss Point Parks and Recreation.

The new initiative works in conjunction with the Gulf Coast Community Foundation to assist local Gulf Coast communities. For the inaugural year, the Brewers' Double-A affiliate chose five recipients for the fund, all with a focus on youth sports. One of those organizations was Moss Point Parks and Rec., which has a long history of helping to develop great athletes, but in recent years, hasn’t seen the same success.

“They have struggled over the past handful of years or so to redevelop their athletic programs, specifically youth sports,” said David Blackwell, the community relations manager for the Shuckers.

Blackwell hoped that the fund would help the community upgrade athletic centers and ball fields, but Mother Nature had her own plan.

“We’re probably about two months out from their night here in Biloxi at the stadium, and a tornado rips through a good portion of the area in Moss Point,” Blackwell said.

The twister touched down on June 19, and destroyed over 100 buildings in the town. It was classified as an EF2-level tornado, signifying that the winds were between 111-135 mph.

“I drove down a little over a month ago to check the damage and it was the strangest thing, there was a house on one end of the street and across the street there was a building, and you could see that’s where the tornado started because the house is in perfect pristine condition and the building is demolished,” Blackwell said.

After seeing the extensive damage, Blackwell and John Tracy, the Shuckers' owner, decided to increase the amount of the donation given to Moss Point. On Aug. 12, they presented a $10,000 check, the largest donation they’ve made through the fund so far.

“We just felt that it was 100 percent the right thing to do,” Blackwell said. “We’re limited on what we can do, but we wanted to do as much as we possibly could.”

The fund was one of Blackwell’s main goals when he joined the team in October. He wanted to find a way to give back to the community, and both general manager Hunter Reed and Tracy were on board.

“[The fund] goes through the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, which handles all of the funding. That part has been very seamless with no issues,” Blackwell said.

In addition to Moss Point Parks and Rec., the fund has also donated to Buddy Sports (a local special needs sports organization) and the Todd Migues Park project (a local effort aiming to restore a local Biloxi diamond and the park surrounding it). Going forward, they plan to contribute to both Hattiesburg Parks and Recreation and the Boys & Girls Club of Biloxi.

“Next season, we’re going to be having people apply to be a recipient,” Blackwell said. “That’s going to be the challenging part -- somebody’s going to get left off, and that’s going to be the part that’s hardest, for sure.”

While next season will bring new challenges, 2023 has been a rousing success.

“I know the mayor of Moss Point -- who was there on Saturday night -- was overjoyed,” Blackwell said. “He was in tears at one point.”