On their night off from a winning baseball season, Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and second baseman Jose Altuve teamed up to host a fundraiser benefiting their respective foundations at Upper Kirby retailer, Tootsies. And they got a little help from some of their friends as Carlos Correa, Joe Musgrove, Cy Young Award-winner Dallas Keuchel, George Springer, Alex Bregman, and Mike Fiers from the division-leading American League Astros turned out to support their teammates.
Also lending their support were Astros Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, Houston Texans center Greg Mancz, Astros president Reid Ryan, and Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow.
To the delight of those in attendance, the stars all mingled with the crowd, giving guests plenty of opportunity to chat and take selfies with their favorite sports figure.
Partygoers also mingled with pups up for adoption from BARC Animal Shelter and Adoptions and Houston Pets Alive, while they enjoyed savory bites from chef Bryan Caswell’s restaurants (Little Big’s, El Real, Jackson Street BBQ), PDQ, Coppa Osteria, and Coltivare), and sips from Tito’s Vodka, Hudson Baby Bourbon, Hudson Manhattan Rye Bourbon, Hendricks Gin, and Ruffino sparkling rosé.
A bar and lounge area on the back patio offered top-notch Scotch labels and a cigars from Heights Cigar Lounge.
The more than $100,000 raised from the evening go to the Lance McCullers Jr. Foundation, a nonprofit that invests time and resources into the promotion of pet adoptions, raising awareness for shelters and programs, and continuing the journey to a no-kill world, and to the José Altuve Foundation, with the funds designated to benefit The Sunshine Kids Foundation, which provides free programs and events for children who are receiving cancer treatments in hospitals across the United States and North America.
"It's important for us to be able to give back to the community. And I think it's cool in this case because we both really enjoy living here (in Houston)— and actually live here full time. Houston has given us a lot and we want to reciprocate," McCullers explained.
Enjoying the evening were Mix 96.5’s Sarah Pepper, who served as event emcee, and Lauren Finkelstein, Jim Weiss, Hallie Vanderhider, Vivian Wise, Nick Scurfield, Jennifer Caswell, Marsha and Jeff Tucker, Laura Medard, Kim Padgett, Sonia Soto, Joanna and Brad Marks, Heather Staible, Lorena Gamo, Yesely Love, and Morgan Goen Kaldis and Andrew Kaldis.
Kelli Wienzierl, John Wienzierl.
