Texas’ town in mourning recently hosted a welcome visitor from the Bayou City. Houston Astros owner Jim Crane, along with members of the Astros Foundation, visited Uvalde’s Robb Elementary to bring some smiles to the grieving city.
Crane and foundation members visited the elementary school, site of the deadliest shooting in Texas history, on Friday, July 8.
“It’s hard not to cry,” Crane told Adam Winkler at CultureMap news partner ABC13 after visiting the school where 19 children and two teachers were killed and another 17 people were wounded. “It isn’t easy to see that. You’ve got little kids. It’s tough.”
After visiting the school, the Astros contingency hosted families of the victims, among others, at a private brunch at Uvalde’s Civic Center in Uvalde. ABC13 cameras captured images of some wearing shirts depicting photos of loved ones they lost inside Robb Elementary.
At the brunch, the families received Astros jerseys that displayed the name and age of each child lost. The jerseys were also autographed by Astros players and coaches.
“We’re in the fix-it business,” Paula Harris, executive director of the Astros Foundation, told Winkler. “We want to help. There’s nothing we can do besides what we do, and that's to give out a little joy and introduce kids to baseball.”
The Astros will also host families of the Uvalde victims for a home game on August 14 against the Oakland Athletics at Minute Maid Park.