Ryne and Margaret Sandberg humbly help the homeless Iowa Cubs

Ryne and Margaret Sandberg humbly help the homeless

Arriah fidgets with a book about angels that sits on a ledge in the Westminster Presbyterian Church library. The 2-year-old is too young to read, but she knows a caring person when she sees one, and so does her mom, Jomeisha.

"Margaret Sandberg — she's our angel," said Jomeisha, a single parent in one of 553 homeless families in the Des Moines area, according to the Iowa Institute for Community Alliances.

"For one night, she and her husband made us feel like celebrities."




Photos: Sandbergs helping out

Photos: Ryne Sandberg as Iowa Cubs manager

Margaret and her husband, Iowa Cubs manager Ryne Sandberg, do more than temporarily live in the downtown Des Moines Whiteline Lofts this summer while he works up a managerial ladder in hopes of reaching the major leagues.

They've also been known to treat homeless families — like Jomeisha Gochett and her two children, Arriah and 9-year old son DaMariyon — to a night of triple-A baseball at Principal Park.

They did it when Sandberg managed in 2007 and '08 in Peoria. They did it last year when he managed in Tennessee.

"It's just something Margaret and I thought we'd like to do," Sandberg said. "You see homeless people and you hear about homeless people, and our plan is to help them."

They do it more than any other Iowa manager, said longtime general manager Sam Bernabe.

"They've gone out of their way to be part of the community," said Bernabe, who has been with the Iowa Cubs 27 years. "We've had some managers not do anything. We've had some managers do things maybe once or twice during the summer.

"Never have we had anyone like Ryne and Margaret Sandberg."

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Arriah ordered pizza. DeMariyon had a hot dog (just one), nachos and a soft drink.

"And DeMariyon ended up eating most of his sister's pizza," Jomeisha said, frowning at her son. "Margaret told us to order anything that we wanted."

They live in the basement of the church in Des Moines' Beaverdale neighborhood, so a night at a baseball game was cherished.

"The fact that we were able to be outside, doing something out in the fresh air and eating ballpark food was something the kids will remember for a long time," Jomeisha said. "The fact that they got to go outside and be part of a crowd for a change was nice for the kids."

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There were 740 homeless families in the Des Moines area last year, according to the Iowa Institute for Community Alliances. There were 656 in 2008, and 709 in 2007.

"We've done it everywhere I've managed, and I don't see us ever stopping it," Ryne Sandberg, 50, said of helping needy families. "It's the least we can do."

Margaret buys tickets, gives their guests carte blanche at the concession stand, and ol' No. 23 autographs the shirts, balls and baseball cards Margaret purchases.

They know the importance of family - Ryne has two children from a previous marriage and Margaret has three. Between them, they have three grandchildren.

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Margaret just as well could have purchased one less ticket for the Gochetts - Arriah spent most of the game on Margaret's lap.

"She's very clingy," Jomeisha said. "She's not afraid of strangers - especially people like Margaret who treat her very well. She's not with a lot of people outside the family, so when there's a chance to be with someone else - I think it's good for her."

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"Ryne and I are part of the Des Moines community," Margaret, 53, said before a recent game. "It may be for just the summer, maybe just one summer, but it's what we do. It's what everyone should do."

This includes her 10-time Major League Baseball All-Star husband.

"The players and their families are involved, too," he said. "For some of them, it's the first time they've done something like this. If they can take what they're doing here back to where they live ... that's a good thing."

**

Jomeisha hopes her next move is into government assisted housing. She says she's frustrated about being on a waiting list, and wonders aloud when assistance will come.

DeMariyon walked to one of the library bookshelves, grabbed a book with the word Faith in the title, and handed it to his mom.

"Read the title," he told her. "Have faith."

**

The Sandbergs and members of the Iowa Cubs helped feed the homeless Monday at Central Iowa Shelter and Services in downtown Des Moines. Margaret is looking for 116 mattresses to give to homeless families

Three or four times a month, they distribute toiletry items.

Iowa Cubs' 2010 schedule

"It's such an easy concept," she said.

The Iowa Cubs place unused toiletry items from hotel stays on road trips into a locker room receptacle. Once it's full, one or both Sandbergs takes it to a homeless shelter.

"Margaret and I never get over the feeling that we get when we leave the shelters, and the smiles we get when we're there," Ryne Sandberg said.

Building those relationships resonates for everyone involved.

"Ryne Sandberg - he's my favorite baseball player," DaMariyon said. "I want to be like him."

When asked what Jomeisha would say to the Sandbergs, she responded.

"You're great people. Treating us at the game was not something you had to do. I'll always remember it, not so much for me, but for the memory you gave my children."