The hundreds of schoolchildren in the Namunda Village in Malawi haven't heard of baseball. They haven't heard of the World Series MVP-turned-Rangers pitcher, the son of a superintendent and teacher, the husband of an educator. These children attend schools built by The Hamels Foundation, but they don't know Cole Hamels.

The Rangers lefthander is OK with that.

He and wife Heidi didn't start their foundation to spread baseball through the world. They wanted to spread education.

"We believe that through education," they say, "any child, regardless of circumstances, can achieve their dreams."

Thursday night, Cole and wife Heidi joined Yavneh Academy of Dallas to put on "A Dinner for Worldwide Education Benefiting The Hamels Foundation." Via sponsorships, a dinner and auction, the high school group was well on its way to fundraising the $32,000 necessary to build a classroom in The Hamels Foundation's Malawi school. More than 400 students already learn math, writing and trade skills thanks to Cole and Heidi's foundation. Forty more students will gain access to an education with the night's proceeds.

"If you have an opportunity, it's just in our nature to donate and give back," Cole Hamels said. "When you do get a bigger platform, it's a little easier and helps attract more people to our cause."

'How much of a difference are we going to make?'

For Cole and Heidi, that platform came in the form of the Phillies' 2008 World Series titles, when Cole was recognized as MVP. He and Heidi were itching to give back but hadn't found an organization they felt comfortable donating to.

"I was like OK, Cole, how much of a difference are we going to make?" Heidi remembered. "How much of a difference with that donation? Because we are going to donate."

The best way to donate, she decided, was by starting The Hamels Foundation.

In less than eight years, the foundation has supported 70 schools globally via more than $3.6 million worth of scholarships, grants, supplies and schoolhouses. They split support between U.S. students and the first-through-eighth grade campus they built in a Malawi, Africa village.

"We try to inspire my teammates that come after me and kids," Cole said. "In order to build a strong community you have to be involved just as much as you would want to perceive someone else to be involved. You have to stick with it and make sure it lasts [for] the betterment of community."

For Cole and Heidi, the betterment of the community wasn't something to approach half-heartedly. Heidi went to Malawi, met with the president and Ministry of Education, and did extensive research. She learned that the country has among the highest population of AIDs/HIV victims per capita - 10.6 percent of the adult population is affected, according to the Malawi Ministry of Health. It has no education system. And fewer than 1 percent of the country has electricity. The Malawi people were in dire need of help.

Education, Heidi learned, could enable girls to support their families through commerce instead of prostitution. It could - and literally has, in the Hamels' village - reduce the number of AIDs/HIV cases.

Pair that with peaceful politics and no foreign threats? Supporting Malawi education was sustainable, realized Heidi, who's worked as a teacher and has her master's in international education.

"So if we were going to make an investment there ... we always say 'sustainable,'" Heidi said. "If it's not going to be sustainable, I'm not going to ask you for one penny. I'm just not. It met all the criteria.

"If you can fix the skill set, you're going to fix the epidemic."

The 'wild' trade to Texas

The couple also supports education domestically. From scholarships for students in their hometowns to more than $1 million of support invested in Philadelphia schools - the largest donation in city history - the Hamelses began making their mark in America.

Then, under a week after Hamels pitched a no-hitter for the Phillies at Wrigley Field in Chicago, the MLB trade deadline approached.

July 31, 2015 Cole found out he had been traded to the Rangers.

"That was wild even for me because I didn't know what team I went to until I saw it on ESPN," he said. "I thought I was going to [California]."

But the D-FW metroplex and Rangers offered much for The Hamels Foundation and family.

"I was excited," Cole said, "because they were my No. 1 team."

The Foundation was too. By his second season in 2016, they'd already broke into North Texas education.

"The first thought was we're going to do something in Texas because wherever they live and work, that's where the foundation is able to have an impact," executive director Kelly Anderson said. "Cities do a lot for the players and their families."

That impetus spurred the Yavneh students. When Students4Students realized how similar the two organizations were, its members reached out to The Hamels Foundation.

"Cole is doing something that's so impactful and can help so many people," said Sophia Fineberg, a Yavneh junior and Students4Students member. "He's someone Yavneh people can look up to. For such a public sports figure to take such a public stance and say education's important sends a message."

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It's a message Cole, approaching his 12th season in the MLB, is thrilled to send. He loves playing for the Rangers, emphasizing how ready his teammates are for "redemption" after an early 2016 postseason exit. But as his career progresses, he looks beyond the mound.

"I'm seeing more of a response from people where I've been being recognized for and thanked more for the Foundation as opposed to the result from a baseball game," he said. "When you start to see that, that's when you really understand you're making a difference in people's lives.

"To make a real dent in their actual way of life and see their appreciation for that? That's a huge standout for me."

The children in Malawi still don't know who he is, what baseball is or even that the blonde woman who they say changed their lives is married to a major-league pitcher. They still prefer soccer. Cole's OK with that, too.

"He's an excellent soccer player," Heidi insists.

"[My skills] are actually not too bad," Cole admits. "I could go over there."

Through the schoolrooms, he already has.