The Kansas City Royals and QuikTrip announced a multiyear partnership in which QuikTrip will become the official jersey patch partner of the Kansas City Royals, the convenience retailer and the MLB team announced. The Royals will wear the QuikTrip logo on all uniforms in spring training and the regular season.

“In our first conversation, we told the Royals’ team, ‘We have billboards on every corner and every highway, so Kansas City already knows about QT,’” QuikTrip community relations manager Lauren Sherry shared in a statement to MLB.com. "But what if we could work together and use our platforms to do something that helped people? We are excited to see the increased impact of this unique partnership unfold over the next several years."

QuikTrip and the Royals are placing community investment, specifically youth literacy, at the forefront of their partnership. According to the press release, this is MLB’s first and only jersey partnership built around investing in the community.

“From our perspective, these are really unique opportunities,” Royals executive vice president, chief commercial and community impact officer Sarah Tourville told MLB.com. “It’s probably the most important partnership because our players wear it, and it’s our most important brand asset. As we started thinking about an ideal scenario, [it was about] much greater than, ‘What revenue can you generate from it?’ But how do we find a partner with the same values and beliefs, acts with the same heart and grit, who shares that same integrity from generation to generation.”

Literacy is a key pillar of the Kansas City Royals Foundation’s mission, while at-risk youth and early childhood education have been long-term priorities for QuikTrip. The partnership aims to meet an urgent Kansas City need: Only 21% of third graders in the city’s public school district and charter schools are reading at grade level.

The partnership will incorporate the launch of “Hit the Books,” a program focused on improving literacy rates across the Kansas City community, including a significant commitment to Kansas City Public Schools as well as a donation for every Royals hit this season and other initiatives.

Last year, QuikTrip and the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA announced a partnership.