Camp Sundown at Yankee Stadium

It’s a struggle for me to write anything good about baseball…that is, until something more important than my distain for the tainted sport surfaces. And last month, the New York Yankees caught my attention as they continued their HOPE Week (Helping Others Persevere and Excel) by hosting an incredible event for some very special kids.

These children had the entire place-and players- to themselves as they enjoyed a ‘carnival’ style event which took place at 3 o’clock in the morning.  So who would bring kids to Yankee Stadium in the middle of the night, and why would players show up at the hour? Amazing story…the children came from Camp Sundown in Craryville, New York. All of them suffer from a rare disease called XP- xeroderma pigmentosum. Most who suffer from XP don’t live to see their 21st birthday…they can’t even be exposed to the slightest bit of sunshine or they’ll develop cancerous tumors…even fluorescent lights can fry their skin…so getting them to Yankee Stadium was no easy task, but worth every effort.

To get the children from the front door of Camp Sundown to the heavily curtained bus with double-tinted windows that took them to Yankee Stadium, all the kids had to wear hats, tinted eye shields, sunblock, turtlenecks, long-sleeve shirts, long pants and gloves. To get the kids out of the bus and into the stadium, Yankees media-relations director Jason Zillo (the mighty-fine man who dreamed up the idea) - had to take them through a maze of back staircases and tunnels to avoid any fluorescent lights. After the game, the stadium lights had to be dimmed to 30 percent

“I saw one little girl,” said organizer Zillo afterward. “When the centerfield wall opened and the whole carnival started coming out — she just started jumping up and down, over and over. She wouldn’t stop, she was so excited. People wanted to thank me. But that’s all I needed.”

Never thought I’d say this…but thank you Yankees, what an amazing and beautiful gift you gave these kids.

Camp Sundown was founded 14 years ago by Caren and Dan Mahar whose daughter suffers from the disease…there is no cure for XP and there are only 250 known cases in the U.S.

As always, thanks for reading. Delinda@athlebrities.com