SI: Hamels, Wife Plan to Adopt AIDS Orphan
By DAN STAMM
Updated 5:13 PM EST, Wed, Feb 18, 2009
Phillies ace Cole Hamels recently sat down for a revealing Sports Illustrated cover story titled "The Fabulous New Life Of Cole Hamels."
Why was it so revealing? Well just look at what was shared.
- Hamels and his wife Heidi plan on adopting an AIDS orphan from Africa, according to Heidi.
- The Hamels plan to build a girls' school in Malawi through the Hamels Foundation.
- Hold on, the Hamels have their own foundation? (We didn't know either considering that the Web page is under construction.)
- Hamels moonlights doing bat mitzvah greetings for young Jewish girls.
Let's start with the first revelation.
"We're in the process of adopting an AIDS orphan from Ethiopia," said Heidi Strobel (a.k.a. Mrs. Cole Hamels) during an interview with SI's Ben Reiter.
Adopting an AIDS child from Africa is noble idea and seems possible but what about the girls' school in Malawi?
Strobel told SI that she has made a couple of long research trips to Malawi to try and bring the idea to fruition.
"We're not just doing it because it's the Brad and Angelina plan, but because we're in the position to do it and it's the right thing to do," she said to SI.
The Hamels Foundation seems to be an upstart right now to say the least. Reiter described it as "fledgling" a.k.a. young or new in his article.
And, as for the Bat Mitzvah greetings -- this seems to just be part of the celebrity of being a World Champion.
It turns out that a mother approached Hamels with the request that he wish her daughter a happy bat mitzvah on video. "A what mitzvah? I know a bar mitzvah--," replied Hamels.
The mother explained that a bat mitzvah is for a girl and just minutes later her daughter Arden Rose had a unique video memory thanks to Hamels.
The article followed mostly Cole, but also his wife, through the hectic lifestyle that has been made even more hectic by Hamels' recent success on the mound.
Read the whole cover story by clicking here.
Find out a lot more about adopting by clicking here.
First Published: Feb 18, 2009 1:25 PM EST
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