More than 50 Major League Baseball players representing all 30 teams have raised nearly $1 million to provide over 4 million meals to support childhood hunger prevention during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Home Plate Project is a partnership between Major League Baseball, country music superstar Garth Brooks’ Teammates for Kids Foundation, and Big League Impact, a program led by St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright and Texas Rangers pitcher Kyle Gibson.

The Home Plate Project initiative was originally scheduled to launch its second year in the fall. But Brooks, Wainwright and Gibson saw the urgency now to provide meals for children who rely on free or reduced-price meals at schools that are closed because of the pandemic.

On short notice, the charity groups were able to raise $937,100.

Wainwright founded Big League Impact in 2013. He says the big leaguers felt the need to jump in right away to help feed kids in their cities.