Kids cancer hospital will treat patients to a Scrappers day

Staff report

NILES

On Sunday, Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley will host the fourth annual Pediatric Cancer Survivor Celebration at the Mahoning Valley Scrappers vs. the West Virginia Black Bears game. The game will begin at 4:05 p.m. at Eastwood Field, 111 Eastwood Mall Blvd.

Patients and their families from the Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders will be treated to an afternoon of baseball, refreshments and fun.

Before the game, the kids will be introduced on the field, where they will remember patients who did not survive with a commemorative balloon launch. One of the patients will throw out the game’s first pitch.

In celebration of the National Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, which takes place in September, Scrappers players will “lace up for cancer” by wearing special gold laces in their athletic shoes.

The hospital, the Scrappers and the Go4TheGoal Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the lives of children with cancer, are teaming up for the Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer campaign.

Sales of gold shoelaces, which can be purchased for $5, will support the Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders, benefiting infants, children, teens and young adults battling cancer here in the Mahoning Valley.

In the concourse during the game, there also will be a silent auction of autographed baseball memorabilia from the Cleveland Indians and Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

For information, contact Joey DeLisio at 330-746-8714 or jdelisio@chmca.org.