I
A Brief Introduction

This one is about Ukrainian children in need, New York Empire Baseball, and the extraordinary foundation that brought them together.

When you’ve been a freelancer for two decades and you love what you do, most of the time you get gigs that confirm you’re in the right line of work. But sometimes opportunities come along to make sure that you keep evolving. And that was me last week on assignment with Katia Roman-Trzaska’s SOK Foundation and New York Empire Baseball: as excited as an intern while deploying all the experience I’ve got. From contributing as a seasoned strategic writer to shooting baseball in high sunshine for the first time, I got to make use of every skill set I’ve developed, plus a few that are just emerging. What a ride!

Here’s a glimpse into the photos I took for SOK during New York Empire Baseball’s remarkable recent visit to Poland—and some of the writing I produced after I put down the camera. Both posted with permission from Katia Roman-Trzaska at Samodzielność od Kuchni, a remarkable organization I am thrilled to add to my client list.

II
A Selection of Documentary Photos

III
The Official Write-Up

SOK Foundation Brings American Baseball and Empowerment to Ukrainian Children in Need

When Russia declared war on Ukraine in February, most people wondered what that meant for the global economy. SOK Foundation’s Katia Roman-Trzaska and New York Empire Baseball’s Jordan Baltimore wondered instead how it would affect Ukraine’s most vulnerable kids. But rather than ponder existential questions, each came up with some practical ones. How do I get involved? How can my organization make an impactful difference? And who do I partner with to make this happen in the best way possible?

On the last weekend of June, 2022, New York Empire Baseball and Warsaw-based SOK Foundation brought American baseball, new clothing, and plenty of hope to hundreds of refugee children from Ukrainian orphanages who have now been placed in Polish-run institutional care. They are among the most vulnerable victims of the senseless war tearing up their homeland. The unprecedented SOK-Empire enterprise combined American aid, good old-fashioned volunteering, Jordan Baltimore’s passion for empowering kids through sport, SOK’s vast know-how and infrastructure of connections, and the effort of countless Polish citizens and residents now tirelessly helping neighbors in need.

More than the sum of its parts, the remarkable collaboration between New York Empire Baseball and the Warsaw-based SOK Foundation drew further local support from the US Embassy in Poland, the American School of Warsaw, Luxury Collection’s Hotel Bristol, Poland’s Happy Kids foundation, Soliwoda Catering, and an two amazing US-based organizations that came forward with clothing and gear for hundreds of displaced Ukrainian children in institutional care—Wilson Baseball and Pitch In for Baseball & Softball..

The three-day event began on June 23, as the Empire group of 12—which included founder Jordan Baltimore, coach and Duke University baseballer Cole Hebble plus five baseball players aged 10 to 18 and five baseball moms and dads—touched down in Warsaw for an intense first day of volunteering. Half of the New Yorkers worked a whirlwind shift at the Żywimy na Zachodnim (We Feed At West Station) soup kitchen outside the Warsaw train and bus depot that has been the number one global hub for refugee traffic since February. The other half pitched in at a refugee shelter, cleaning cafeteria furniture, prepping food, and sorting donated shoes into pairs by size and season.

Day two of SOK’s intense itinerary for Empire featured a trip to the Ossa Hotel, which is now in use as a 600-bed orphanage for displaced Ukrainian children and youth in institutional care. Baltimore, Hebble, and the accompanying American baseball players transcended language and culture barriers to introduce their sport to children in need. And in the evening the group met Roman-Trzaska at SOK’s Little Chef cooking school to make hundreds of Polish pierogi, some for their own dinner, some for the next day’s meal packs for refugees.

On Saturday, June 26, the Americans again met with the Ossa kids, this time for a day of baseball at the American School of Warsaw, which is leading the pack among the international schools involved in charity programs helping refugees. Empire- and SOK-emblazoned sports clothing in Ukraine’s national colors was distributed to the dozens of children arriving from Ossa by bus while hundreds more yellow-and-blue t-shirts and pairs of shorts were on their way directly to the orphanage. The US Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission Daniel Lawton—notably a former head of the Ukraine Task Force at the U.S. Department of State—arrived to witness the training and festivities. Over the course of an amazing day of baseball, burgers, and tears of joy, Ukrainian children connected with the American baseballers and the Warsaw-based hosts, NGO workers, and volunteers.

That Empire and SOK made a difference to a vast community of displaced Ukrainian children and tireless Polish and Ukrainian social workers attests both to Empire’s dedication and to SOK’s agility, but the way the experience brought people together to put smiles on children’s faces and carry hope to entire institutions is more than the sum of the parts. Empire’s fast-paced trip was filled with meaningful interactions with children orphaned by the war or separated from their families, as well as with people of all ages who want to go back home but can’t because it is not safe. Jordan Baltimore, Cole Hebble, and the American families traveling with Empire were transformed by their proximity to the crisis in Ukraine and to the Poles rising to the occasion like true neighbors. Meanwhile, SOK and all of our Polish partners are uplifted by the spirit and energy that Empire brought to Poland.

IV
The Who’s Who

Katia Roman-Trzaska, founder of SOK foundation, and Karina Knyż, who recently joined the SOK team, greet New York Empire Baseball in front of Warsaw’s Bristol Hotel on the morning of Thursday, June 23, 2022.

Coach Jordan Baltimore made an astonishing change in his life in 2010 when he ended an illustrious Wall Street career to found New York Empire Baseball. Now his organization helps create astonishing change in the lives of children worldwide.

SOK Foundation
Founded in 2018, SOK has expertise in helping children in institutional care and brings empowerment and life skills to marginalized kids and youth groups in need. The foundation’s name—sok means juice—is an acronym for Samodzielność od Kuchni, a phrase connecting self-reliance with kitchen know-how and grassroots organizing. Formerly focused primarily on programs for kids from institutional care, SOK has recently pivoted to also running large scale psychosocial support programs for children affected by war and teaching Polish as a second language to get Ukrainian children ready for school in Poland, two first-order needs since Ukraine came under attack and refugees began coming to Poland by the millions.

New York Empire Baseball
Founded in 2009, New York Empire Baseball is a progressive organization with a focus on making the youth baseball experience engaging and inspiring through science-based content, developmental coaching, and clear communication. Geared for players of every age and skill level, it deploys the world’s leading technologies to measure, inform, instruct, energize, and empower. With one of the best trained coaching staffs in the world, New York Empire Baseball is transforming youth developmental programs, competitive travel play, and elite performance training. The organization is based at The Arena, a high-tech facility in the heart of Manhattan with real-feel turf, innovative “sky” lighting, and dramatic ceiling heights for an authentic outdoor experience indoors in the city.

Sharing Empire
Sharing Empire is a 501c3 non-profit organization whose original mission is to provide children, families, and organizations in need with quality coaching, equipment, and field maintenance, so that every child in New York City can be empowered on a baseball field, regardless of the family’s financial situation. From the “Dollar a Day” baseball camps in East Harlem to the incredible “New York Empire Baseball is Batting a Thousand” program, in which the organization partnered with Louisville Slugger to donate 1000 new bats to children all over New York City, Sharing Empire has been changing children’s lives. At the news of the war in Ukraine, the organization immediately mobilized, expanding its mission to include engaging baseball in providing charity to children in need all over the world. Bringing clothing and baseball to refugee children from Ukrainian Orphanages now residing in Poland has been Sharing Empire’s first overseas effort.