Local Youth Travel Baseball Team Hits Thanksgiving Home Run for Children Battling with Cancer

The Redlands-based Inland Empire 66ers 10U Baseball Club collected and delivered Thanksgiving meals to the Childhood Cancer Foundation of Southern California in Loma Linda (CCFSC) early Tuesday morning, Nov. 24. “We believed this was a great opportunity for our boys to learn more about giving, and to see first-hand how other children – many the same age as they are – are not battling an opponent on a baseball diamond, but are fighting for their lives against cancer,” explained Co-Director/Coach Carlo Granillo. “These brave kids and their families wake up early every morning and stay up late every night to face the tremendous emotional and financial challenges of fighting an opponent far worse than any we face on the field, on the occasional weekend when we have an early, or late game.” The 66ers chose the CCFSC because every three and a half minutes, a parent hears the devastating news, “Your child has cancer.” With these words, normal life stops, and a difficult new journey begins, a journey that will test families physically, emotionally, socially and financially. The sole mission of the CCFSC is to provide emotional, social, educational and emergency assistance to families that have or had a child with cancer. The 66ers were honored to partner with Clark’s Nutrition and the MLB affiliate, the Inland Empire 66ers Professional Baseball Club, in support this local program. “This is a great lesson for our boys, especially as they get older, to appreciate everything they have and to always help others who are less fortunate,” Granillo continued. To learn more about the CCFSC, visit www.ccfsocal.org or call (909) 558-3419.