The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) and Major League Baseball (MLB) are once again stepping up to the plate to hit home runs for prostate cancer research and encourage fans to "Keep Dad in the Game" as part of the 20th Annual Home Run Challenge. This hallmark event will take place during the six days leading up to Fathers' Day and will help raise crucial awareness and much needed research funding for prostate cancer.
During this year's Home Run Challenge, MLB and PCF encourage baseball fans to make a pledge–ranging from $0.50 to $1,000–for every home run hit during all 105 MLB games from June 15 through Father's Day, June 21, plus 15 bonus games. Last year, 148 home runs were hit, raising approximately $1.9 million for prostate cancer research.
"We are especially proud of our partnership with MLB, which shares our commitment to 'Keep Dad in the Game' by finding new treatments and cures for prostate cancer," says Michael Milken, PCF founder and chairman. "We are grateful for the generous support of baseball fans everywhere who have contributed nearly $45 million to PCF over the last 20 years."
To show support on Father's Day, MLB representatives and players will wear blue armbands and ribbon decals on their hats and uniforms. Home Run Challenge donors can direct their pledges to their favorite team's home runs or to all MLB home runs hit throughout the week.
More progress has been made in prostate cancer research during the past five years than in the preceding decade. Support of the Home Run Challenge by MLB and its teams has helped bring six new FDA-approved drugs to patients in just a four-year period. PCF is also helping to advance precision medicine, meaning that one day we will have treatments targeted to each individual patient.
Funding from PCF provides resources for a range of programs including support for early career scientists, creative research ideas and multi-year research programs. In 2014, PCF provided nearly $32 million for research programs that would otherwise have gone unfunded.
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