With all of the focus on who are the top teams in North Carolina and how are the teams performing on the field, it’s a real pleasure to hear news like we heard this week. For the past five years, the Vs. Cancer fund has held the North Wake Vs. Cancer Benefit Tournament in Wake Forest, NC. Participating teams set out to raise funds for the Vs. Cancer Foundation and pediatric oncology programs at the University of North Carolina’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.
In spite of the tournament being rained out, this year teams and organizers raised $30,000 for the Vs. Cancer Foundation and pediatric oncology programs at the University of North Carolina’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. In addition, the 9u NCDB Rivercats were the fund raising champions this year, becoming the first team to raise over $4,000 in a single year! Tournament director Robert Welton noted the organizers “were able to meet [their] goal largely because of the 9u Rivercats.” Since 2014, the incredibly generous central NC travel baseball community has combined to raise over $110,000 while participating in this tournament.
After the fundraising is complete, 50% of the funds raised go toward national research for the deadliest form of childhood cancer, pediatric brain tumors, through the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, while the other 50% is donated to a local children’s hospital. The local portion of the donation is used to fund child-life programs at the hospital, with the hopes of providing a more comfortable experience for a child and their family going through cancer treatment.
We wish to offer our sincere congratulations to all teams involved, and in particular to the 9u NCDB Rivercats. This is one of those times where many in youth baseball community have been able to pull off a truly wonderful event for several years. These boys, and all the teams involved, got to be part of something much larger than their own youth baseball team and really made a positive impact in their community. Amazing work by all parties involved and please put this tournament on your schedule for next year.