This initiative will give fans the opportunity to make a donation to SU2C online at MLB.com/standupstadiums and receive virtual seats, suites, bases and pitcher's mounds from any of the 30 MLB parks, each with customized branding and personal messages to honor those impacted by cancer.
"Stand Up to Cancer is thrilled to continue our longstanding partnership with Major League Baseball, through MLB.com and Stand Up Stadiums. It's a platform that allows baseball fans everywhere to help make real progress against cancer," SU2C co-founder Laura Ziskin said. "As a person living with cancer, I also know that this tribute space will make a personal difference in the lives of patients, survivors, and all of us in the fight."
After choosing their favorite team and ballpark, fans can select the virtual piece of the stadium they would like to dedicate. The minimum donations will be tiered, based on the items available, including $5 per ballpark seat, $100 per suite, $200 per base and $500 per pitcher's mound. Individual donations at each tier may be increased as desired, and there is no limit on the number of dedications any fan can make at any stadium.
Before completing the donation, fans can enter a dedication name, write a personal commemorative message, and upload a digital photograph to customize their virtual items. You can preview your items before ordering in a special team-branded gallery page. The donor will have a unique web page link to display and share the virtual item via email and across social networking platforms with friends, families, co-workers and others touched by cancer.
MLB was the founding donor to contribute to SU2C in 2008, when Commissioner Bud Selig pledged the industry's resources to support this innovative cancer research model.
MLB and SU2C have increasingly reached out to a wider fan base, and All-Star Week was just a recent example. The annual All-Star Charity 5K & Fun Run raised more than $200,000 for four cancer nonprofits, including SU2C, and the crowd at Angel Stadium during the All-Star Game stood as one to film a live MasterCard Priceless commercial for SU2C. Stand Up Stadiums is the latest example of this partnership to help end cancer in our lifetimes.
"Stand Up Stadiums present a compelling online vehicle to honor loved ones and rally fans in the fight against cancer," said Dinn Mann, executive vice president, content, MLB.com. "The virtual ballparks provide a convenient way to donate, to spread the word interactively, and as an extension of Commissioner Selig's, and the industry's, commitment to the cause."
The MLB.com Stand Up Stadiums program will be supported at launch by a public service announcement created by MLB.com and SU2C that will be shown on ballpark video boards and available at MLB.com and club sites. See the MLB.com Stand Up Stadiums FAQ for more information on making a dedication. This was written by Mark Newman and appeared in mlb.com.