Boston Red Sox first baseman Mitch Moreland, right, was named the 2020 Jimmy Fund captain. (BOSTON RED SOX/JIMMY FUND PHOTO)
BOSTON – Red Sox first baseman Mitch Moreland has been named the 2020 Jimmy Fund Captain, the Jimmy Fund recently announced.
As an ambassador for the Jimmy Fund, Moreland will help support and promote the mission of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund. This year marks the Jimmy Fund’s 72nd anniversary of raising funds for adult and pediatric cancer care and research at Dana-Farber.
“I am honored and excited about being this year’s Jimmy Fund captain,” Moreland explained. “Over the past few seasons I have experienced the special relationship between the Boston Red Sox and the Jimmy Fund in the fight against cancer. I visited with pediatric patients at Spring Training and participated in the WEEI NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon. I can’t wait to play a larger role and help raise money and awareness for the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber.”
Each year, a Boston Red Sox player serves as the Jimmy Fund captain.
The Jimmy Fund captain attends fundraising events, visits patients and builds support for cancer care and research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Much of these activities will happen virtually this year to mitigate potential spread of the virus and keep everyone safe. Past captains include Brock Holt, Pablo Sandoval, Will Middlebrooks, David Ross, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Daniel Bard, Clay Buchholz and Tim Wakefield.
MITCH MORELAND (BOSTON RED SOX/JIMMY FUND PHOTO)
“I am so pleased that Mitch Moreland has taken on this special role of Jimmy Fund captain,” said Larry Lucchino, Chairman of the Jimmy Fund, Dana-Farber Trustee, Principal Owner and Chairman of the Pawtucket Red Sox, and Boston Red Sox President/ CEO Emeritus. “He follows a distinguished line of Red Sox players from Ted Williams to Tim Wakefield to Brock Holt who have made an incredible impact on Dana-Farber through the Jimmy Fund.”
The story of the Jimmy Fund is one of grassroots community involvement — of thousands of people organizing bake sales, lemonade stands, runs, walks, golf tournaments, dances, and softball games to bring together their community and raise money for cancer research and care at Dana-Farber.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jimmy Fund has recently introduced exciting new initiatives underway to connect with the community safely and support a shared mission. These new initiatives include:
The inaugural Dana-Farber and Jimmy Fund Giving Day (May 27). Revenue raised from Giving Day will benefit Dana-Farber’s Emergency Response Fund, created to address the financial impact of the pandemic on the institute;
An ongoing virtual fundraiser, Jimmy Fund Bingo Night, hosted live on the Jimmy Fund Facebook page. Moreland and his family recently hosted this even and it was a huge success. The next game will be on June 5 at 7 p.m.
Jimmy Fund Let’s Game, another new fundraising program, created to welcome video gamers of all ages and abilities to livestream their favorite games to help raise funds to fight cancer. The first Rocket League tournament will take place on Sun., May 30.
With the help of enthusiastic gamers, the Jimmy Fund is taking one step closer to telling cancer it’s “game over!” – Courtesy of the Boston Red Sox and the Jimmy Fund
