Red Sox legend Pedro Martinez hosts backpack giveaway in Boston

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Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez is looking to help young students in Boston, the city where he played most of his major league career.

Through his foundation, Martinez hosted a backpack giveaway at The BASE in Roxbury for Boston Community Pediatrics patients.

The Pedro Martinez Foundation also provided children and their families with additional school supplies and Target gift cards.

"I remember being a kid and really struggling to get everything together to go to school. Sometimes, I found myself borrowing stuff from other kids," Martinez said. "I don't want any other kid to go through that. As long as I can do something, I'm here to do it."

The giveaway also featured food and ice cream trucks, as well as fun activities.

Martinez, 51, won three Cy Young Awards and earned eight All-Star Game selections in his career. When he retired from Major League Baseball in 2009, he was the first to retire with more than 3,000 strikeouts in fewer than 3,000 innings pitched in his career.

The Dominican Republic native played seven of his 18 major league seasons with the Boston Red Sox (1998-2004), finishing with a 117-37 win-loss record (.760 win percentage), a 2.52 earned run average and 72 games of at least 10 strikeouts. He won back-to-back Cy Young Awards in 1999 and 2000. He posted a 6-2 record and 3.40 ERA in 13 postseason games for Boston and helped the Red Sox win the World Series in 2004. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.