A baseball player with the Houston Astros is looking to give back in the off-season. Alex Bregman, who is a third baseman for the Texas-based professional sports team, recently launched his own YouTube channel dedicated to helping those in his community.
In one of the first clips uploaded to the video-sharing platform, Bregman and a few of his teammates hatch a plan to help a waitress in need after calling one of their favorite local haunts, The Moonshiners, and asking the manager if any of the servers had recently fallen on hard times. The manager tells Bregman, 24, that a waitress named Jordan Thompson had her car burglarized earlier that day, and that a sizable amount of money was stolen.
“We all came up with this idea to do a YouTube channel and we wanted to do some funny stuff, we wanted to do some stuff like a behind-the-scenes look at our lives during the off-season, but we also wanted to do some things that help people out, especially here in the Houston community – a community that’s done so much for myself,” Bregman explains in the video en route to the restaurant. “We thought this would be a good idea, help a waitress who is struggling right now.”
Providing a bit more insight into why he’s chosen to pay it forward, Bregman adds, “I think it’s a good deed, and I think when you’re an athlete or someone who has the platform that we have, I feel like it’s important to give back and use that platform in the right way.”
Despite being “kind of nervous” prior to heading into the restaurant, Bregman and his friends manage to make small talk with Thompson, who is a full-time college student and plays for her school’s soccer team, before making up an excuse to leave after ordering only one drink.
The athletes ask for a check and proceed to leave $500 in cash behind for a surprised and very grateful Thompson. With tears in her eyes, the college senior leaves the restaurant and catches up with Bregman and his pals. She gives the third baseman a hug and thanks each of them for their generosity. “We wanted to help out,” Bregman explains. “Hopefully that helps a little bit.”
Noting the kind gesture “more than helps,” Thompson, who later realized the players knew about her car issue ahead of time, added, “I’m so happy right now. Thank y’all so much.”
The early education student told Today Food of the encounter, “It meant a lot to me personally because of the timing and money getting stolen from me. I was super grateful and also relieved because now I can actually focus on school and have less stress on me having to work extra. As soon as I saw the money, I just hugged them. I was super thankful.”
In a tweet sharing the YouTube link, Thompson added, “I had a breakdown yesterday bc my money I was going to deposit for my bills was stolen. I only work 2 days a week since i’m a full time student athlete & had no idea how i was going to make it up … then this happened. I am soo thankful.”
And Thompson wasn’t the only one impressed with Bregman’s generosity. The YouTube clip of the good deed has already been watched more than 272,000 times, and as one YouTube user commented, “You’re the man Bregman!! The food industry is harder than most people think and to tip your waiter a good amount of money means a lot.” Added another: “You’re such an amazing person. Houston is lucky to have you. You’re the real MVP.”
