KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Kansas City Royals will join Major League Baseball in honoring “fighters, survivors and angels” during Childhood Cancer Awareness Night Saturday when they host the Chicago White Sox at 6:05 p.m.
The club and Royals Charities have partnered with four local organizations - The University of Kansas Health System, Braden’s Hope for Childhood Cancer, Noah’s Bandage Project and Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation - for various elements of the effort. Forty-three pediatric cancer heroes will be depicted as Royals Fanbassador cutouts starting tonight at Kauffman Stadium. For the rest of the season, these 43 heroes will serve as a reminder of the 43 children each day who are diagnosed with cancer in the United States. As an additional show of support, Royals Charities will donate the proceeds from the current homestand’s 50/50 Raffle presented by Edelman & Thompson to childhood cancer research. Fans ages 18 and older, located in Missouri and Kansas, can play the raffle at royals.com/5050.
Kids from each of the organizations have been selected to read the players’ names and positions for Saturday night’s starting lineup. The special introductions will appear live during Royals Countdown, which is featured on the Royals Facebook page and royals.com homepage.
In honor of children battling cancer, gold ribbons will be featured on the lineup cards, base jewels and items worn by on-field personnel. The recipient of the Buck O’Neil Legacy Seat Saturday night will be Susan Bennett, a long-time volunteer with Braden’s Hope. Also, this weekend, together with Papa John’s Pizza, the Royals will host a pair of socially distanced watch parties for families affected by the disease.
As part of his on-going support, Royals pitcher Danny Duffy is partnering with Royals Charities to announce a donation of $110,000 to Noah’s Bandage Project for Childhood Cancer Research.
As an extension of Major League Baseball’s relationship with Starlight Children’s Foundation, the Royals were selected to receive team-logoed “Starlight Brave Gowns,” which will be donated to the pediatric cancer care unit at The University of Kansas Health System.