Middle Tennessee Softball spread smiles this holiday season with 3rd annual Christmas Toys for Kids Days

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – On a cheery December Friday evening and Saturday morning, a rush of holiday shoppers visited Blue Raider Softball Field to get closer to completing their holiday shopping at Middle Tennessee Softball’s 3rd annual Christmas Toys for Kids Days.

This year’s event marked the third-straight year that the Blue Raiders have partnered up with D.A.R.E to help spread holiday cheer and provide toys for families in need during the holiday season.

“First we need to thank the D.A.R.E program,” expressed head coach Jeff Breeden. “We’re fortunate that one of our catchers, Hailey Bosley’s, grandfather is one of the head guys at D.A.R.E International in California and all over the country. He approached us three years ago about how D.A.R.E helps give back to the community each year by giving out toys. We’re fortunate that he has been able to schedule it out, provide us with the toys, and allow us to help the Murfreesboro and Rutherford County communities, as well as the surrounding areas each year. This year alone we are going to give out 7,000 toys, so hopefully we can put a little cheer in some people’s Christmas. It’s humbling for our program to see that there are some out there that are in need, and hopefully we can fulfill that need and create a few smiles along the way.”

“Our partnership with Middle Tennessee Softball has been a great,” said D.A.R.E Southeast Regional Director Danny Tally. “D.A.R.E has always been committed to our youth, through our youth prevention education, and to really model that behavior as well. So having the chance to partner with Middle Tennessee Athletics and the softball program has really helped the youth of our community. It goes hand-in-hand with our mission at D.A.R.E America and with our law enforcement partners throughout the Middle Tennessee area, as well as the entire state of Tennessee. This event has and continues to be a great opportunity for D.A.R.E to come together with like-minded individuals that want to positively impact the future of our youth and really make something happen for our youth in this community and give back to those that are under-served during the holiday season. We truly value and love our partnership with Middle Tennessee and look forward to seeing our relationship continue to grow throughout not only this year, but into the future as well.”

Things kicked off on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. as the Blue Raiders began handing out toys from monster trucks, Batman action figures, and Don’t Feed the Pandas games, to Barbies, Frozen board games, and Emojiballs through 7 p.m. that evening.

The Blue Raiders continued serving the Murfreesboro community bright and early on Saturday morning as they handed out toys from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. when only a small fraction of toy boxes remained inside the hitting facility at Blue Raider Softball Field.

“It’s really all about giving back to the community,” said senior catcher Hailey Bosley. “We are out here to bring joy to families that may be in need during the holidays, especially with COVID continuing to impact so many around the country. There’s been some hard times for many families out there and so it’s nice to give back to the community. This event every year allows us to help others, and at the same time share our schedule with them, so they can join us each spring at Blue Raider Softball Field. It helps to promote Middle Tennessee and our softball program and really show what our school and softball team are about, which is giving back to people, making them feel comfortable, and helping them have a good time when they are around us and at our games.”

“It means a lot to us,” expressed sophomore pitcher and first baseman Dannielle Taitt. “This community gives us so much. We wouldn’t have this stadium without this community, so it means a lot that we can give back to them. Even if we can help just a little during the holidays, seeing the smiles on people’s faces when they get to take toys home means the world to us.”

Middle Tennessee Softball’s season kicks off in San Diego, California on February 10th and will host their home-opening tournament on March 11-13, with their first home game of the year on March 11 at noon against Northern Iowa.