Childhood Cancer Awareness Day set for Sunday across MLB

For the ninth consecutive year, MLB and all 30 Clubs will raise awareness for childhood cancer in home ballparks during all games on Sunday, September 1st. Held on the first day of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, this effort through the MLB Together platform (www.MLBTogether.com) will combine ceremonial and community-based demonstrations of support for the cause, including outreach to local hospitals treating young patients.

On Sunday, September 1st, all on-field personnel, including players, managers, coaches, and umpires will wear gold ribbon decals and wristbands during all games. Additionally, commemorative base jewels and line up cards will be featured on the day. Home Clubs also may plan to feature ceremonial activities in their ballparks. Club activations may include youth participation in pregame ceremonies, visits from players and mascots, and other special recognitions. Nonprofit partners for Clubs may include local hospital partners or organizations focused on childhood cancer, such as Stand Up To Cancer, American Cancer Society, and Starlight Children’s Foundation. Clubs on the road on September 1st may select another home game to observe Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Additionally, MLB will host a special volunteer event for league employees in collaboration with the New York Mets on Wednesday, September 4th. Linked HERE are a few examples of unique Club activations.

• Arlington, baseball community Stand Up to Cancer at All-Star Game

In 2024, approximately 10,000 children under the age of 15 are projected to receive a cancer diagnosis in the United States. Across all demographics, this disease is the second-leading cause of death by disease in children ages 1-14. MLB, alongside committed leaders in this cause, is dedicated to eradicating cancer as a disease affecting young people.

As an extension of MLB’s relationship with Starlight Children’s Foundation, all 30 Clubs will be receiving either a Nintendo Switch Handheld or a Virtual Reality headset, which will be donated to a local children’s hospital, hospital pediatric cancer care unit, or a pediatric cancer nonprofit organization. To learn more, visit www.mlbtogether.com/childhood-cancer-awareness-day and www.starlight.org/mlb.

Childhood cancer awareness efforts in previous seasons have included special batting practice t-shirts, online campaigns to empower fans to become fundraisers for pediatric cancer research, and donations to local children’s hospitals. MLB and Clubs have supported the fight against cancer through a variety of initiatives for many years. As Stand Up To Cancer’s founding donor, Major League Baseball and its Clubs have pledged more than $50 million to SU2C’s collaborative cancer research programs, providing invaluable support. Launched in 2013, the work of the Stand Up To Cancer – St. Baldrick’s Foundation Pediatric Cancer Dream Team has helped develop two new treatments for difficult to treat pediatric leukemias which have been approved by the FDA.

• MLB Together brings smiles to young hospital patients at Children's of Alabama

Some of the most common types of childhood cancer include leukemia, brain tumors, central nervous system tumors, and malignant epithelial neoplasms and lymphomas. Over the past five decades, cancer researchers have helped to develop treatments that have greatly changed the lives of patients with a pediatric cancer diagnosis. The five year survival rate for childhood cancer is now 85% (compared to 58% in the mid-1970’s).

Stand Up To Cancer’s pediatric cancer research is one of the largest segments of the organization’s portfolio, with 31 innovative pediatric cancer research grants, including four of SU2C’s signature “Dream Teams,” and 11 individual awards to early-career Innovative Research Grants, supporting 51 clinical trials with more than 1,300 pediatric patients enrolled. SU2C-funded research has helped support two FDA approvals for new treatments to improve pediatric leukemia patients’ outcomes and minimize side effects. MLB has recognized SU2C at its jewel events since the 2009 World Series.