MLB gives back during All-Star Game

NEW YORK -- The 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star week has a historic feel about it.

It will be one of the largest gatherings of Hall of Famers, and the game will take place July 15 during the final season at Yankee Stadium.

And Major League Baseball, in partnership with the New York Yankees, will make some more history with the largest community affairs effort on record, including a donation of more than $7 million to the New York City community and beyond.

MLB officials and community partners will participate in a variety of events designed to benefit New York City youth from the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), the Make-A-Wish Foundation and other community partners.

"This year's Major League Baseball All-Star community activities week will touch the lives of many New Yorkers," said Commissioner Bud Selig. "We will be hosting the largest number of community and charitable activities, making the most significant financial investment in years and enlisting a record number of charitable partners to help us make this week an incredible success.

"Our All-Star Game gives us a unique platform to improve the lives of others and make a contribution to communities throughout New York City."

The week-long effort will kick off on Wednesday and run through the All-Star Game on July 15, and each of the events will have a direct and immediate impact on the New York City community.

Wednesday will feature a dedication ceremony hosted in conjunction with Bank of America, the official bank of MLB, the New York Yankees and Little League Baseball, for the renovation of the Castle Hill Little League field in the Bronx, followed by a game between Castle Hill Little League teams.

A Little League Challenger game will take place on Thursday, hosted on the field at Yankee Stadium, between the special needs children from the Astor Little League of the Bronx and New Jersey District 8 (Newark, N.J.) Little League.

The donation of a Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation Fun Center entertainment unit will be made on Friday for children at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx.

On Saturday, there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating an EcoPlay Playground renovated with 85 percent recycled materials at the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club in the Bronx. The playground is also part of MLB's green efforts.

A Starkey Hearing Foundation will fit and donate hearing aids on Sunday to local Boys & Girls Clubs children in need, whose families cannot afford them. That same day, an old fashioned New York City stickball showdown will be hosted in the heart of Harlem between local Boys & Girls Clubs youth and members of the Harlem Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program.

The following day, a $50,000 Teen Center donation will be made on behalf of the winner of the State Farm Home Run Derby. Each Derby participant will be paired with a teenager from a local Boys & Girls Club with a chance to win the Teen Center for their club compliments of State Farm. Boys & Girls Clubs members paired with non-winning Derby participants will win $10,000 toward a Teen Center for their club.

Events will conclude on July 15, when a group of baseball players from the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club will lead the 2008 MLB All-Star Game Red Carpet Parade presented by Chevy, featuring all 64 Major League Baseball All-Stars as well as American and National League All-Star team managers and Hall of Famers.

"The extraordinary support MLB provides for our clubs has positively impacted the lives of countless numbers of young people," said Roxanne Spillett, president of the BGCA. "Together, we are teaching our nation's youth the important values of teamwork and sportsmanship. The Boys & Girls Clubs members who will be a part of this year's All-Star activities are in for the experience of a lifetime."

And six young people who demonstrated the traits valued by MLB and BGCA will get the full All-Star experience.

They are regional winners of the MLB S.T.A.R Award program, meaning that they showed the following characteristics: sportsmanship, team spirit, achievement and responsibility.

The winners will attend the All-Star Game and exclusive All-Star week events as community ambassadors, and will be recognized for their achievement during a pregame ceremony prior to 79th Midsummer Classic.

Also attending the game will be Amanda West, grand prize winner of the 2008 Breaking Barriers Essay Contest, and seven Make-A-Wish children with life-threatening illnesses, whose wish is to see the All-Star Game.

"This is just one example of the generosity that Major League Baseball and its 30 clubs show wish children throughout the year," said David Williams, president and CEO of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. "Whether it's a wish to attend the All-Star Game or World Series, visit Spring Training to meet a favorite player, or spend the day as a ballplayer for their favorite team. Major League Baseball makes them feel like All-Stars every day."