NEWNAN, Ga. — Braves closer Will Smith is a hometown hero in Coweta County and it’s not just for playing his part in getting the Braves to the World Series.
When he made it to the big leagues, Smith did not forget where he came from and still gives back in a huge way.
“Watching one of our own, you know, live his dream, go up and play for our team, you can’t tell a better story than that,” Randy Robbins told Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes.
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Robbins is the athletic director at Newnan High School. Smith actually graduated down the road at Northgate High School, but when an EF-4 tornado hit the community hard, Smith stepped in immediately.
He helped to organize an auction and fundraiser through the Atlanta Braves Foundation to raise money for relief efforts.
“After the storm, we were devastated. So our baseball team had nowhere to play, as did all of our teams — we just had to find another place to play. Will stepped in, not only did he give donations for our program, which were very generous, somehow he worked it out so we could play at Truist Park,” Robbins said.
“When we went to go play, the locker room had their own Braves jerseys with their names on it. I mean just above and beyond you know what anybody can ask for, so he’s been great for Newnan High School.”
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Smith has also become one of the biggest sponsors for the Hope Global Center, a nonprofit on a mission to develop the hearts, minds and souls of children in Newnan.
“He actually won an award through the Braves foundation. He gets to choose a nonprofit and him and his wife have been partners with us in the past and it was just under $10,000 just right here locally for the Hope Center,” said Luke Ayers, executive director for the Hope Global Center.
“Will Smith has such a big heart, and he would be OK with me saying this. A big heart comes from big pain, big struggle right - and he’s had different careers at different times -
All of that has shaped Smith into the closer he is today and a philanthropist for his hometown.
“I just want to say thank you so much to Will Smith and Taylor his beautiful wife for really caring, putting money back into the community and actually physically being involved,” Ayers said.
For his efforts in the community, Will Smith was named the Braves’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award.
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