2011 Holiday Caravan presented by Coca Cola with Red Sox players and staff to take place today, December 7, through Friday, December 9

The Boston Red Sox will once again bring the warmth and cheer of the holiday season to Red Sox Nation as part of the 2011 Holiday Caravan starting Wednesday, December 7, through Friday, December 9, by visiting seven different hospitals and a veteran's center in the Boston area.

Red Sox players and uniformed personnel participating on different stretches of the caravan include pitcher Michael Bowden, catcher and designated hitter Ryan Lavarnway, outfielder Darnell McDonald, catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, hitting coach Dave Magadan, Wally the Green Monster and other front-office personnel for a series of appearances.

The Caravan begins today, Wednesday, December 7 with a visit to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Jimmy Fund Clinic from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Players and staff will meet with young patients being treated for cancer at Dana-Farber. The club has had a relationship with the Jimmy Fund for 58 years, one of the most remarkable such alliances in all of sports. The group from the Red Sox will then make another stop at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), the Official Hospital of the Boston Red Sox, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. to visit the transplant unit. BIDMC, which provides first aid service to fans at Fenway Park, is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School and consistently ranks in the top four in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide. Wednesday's caravan will make a final stop at Shriners Hospital for Children-Boston from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Shriners Hospitals for Children-Boston is a 30-bed pediatric burn hospital, research and teaching center. Children up to age 18 are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-centered environment, without financial obligation to patients or their families.

On Thursday, December 8, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., the Caravan makes its first stop at Children's Hospital Boston to visit patients at one of the largest pediatric medical centers in the United States, which has been constantly rated as one of the nation's top hospitals specializing in pediatric care. Thursday's Caravan will finish with a visit to Franciscan Hospital for Children from 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Since 1949, Franciscan Hospital for Children has pioneered clinical, therapeutic and educational programs for children with a variety of disabilities and through the years has developed into one of the nation's largest pediatric rehabilitation hospitals.

Three different stops will take place during the final day of the Caravan on Friday, December 9, starting with MassGeneral Hospital for Children from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. MassGeneral Hospital for Children is dedicated to providing outstanding, personalized, developmentally appropriate care for infants, children, and adolescents within the context of their family and community and devotes the full research and treatment resources of Massachusetts General Hospital to pediatric care. The Caravan will then continue on to the New England Center for Homeless Veterans from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., a residential program to extend a helping hand to homeless men and women veterans who are addressing the challenges of addiction, trauma, severe and persistent mental illness, and/or unemployment. The Caravan will conclude with a visit to the pediatric wing at Boston Medical Center from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Boston Medical Center is committed to providing the best possible health care, regardless of social or economic circumstance, and the pediatric department works to keep children, adolescents, and young adults in urban communities healthy through preventative medicine as well as efficient care for illness and injury.

All stops on the Holiday Caravan are closed to the general public. Members of the media are welcomed to cover the Caravan and are requested to be in touch with the representatives of each of the Caravan stops that they wish to cover. Contact information is listed below on the Caravan schedule.

2011 BOSTON RED SOX HOLIDAY CARAVAN SCHEDULE

Wednesday, December 7th

10:30 a.m. -11:30 a.m.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Jimmy Fund Clinic
10:30 a.m. -11:30 a.m.
44 Binney Street
Boston, MA 02115
Contact: Molly McHale, O: (617) 632-5675, C: (617) 512-8357
 

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
330 Brookline Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
Contact: Michael Keating, (617) 667-7307
 

1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Shriners Hospital for Children-Boston
51 Blossom Street
Boston, MA 02114
Contact: Kathy Golden, (617) 371-4784
 

Thursday, December 8th

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Children's Hospital Boston
300 Longwood Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
Contact: Katie Dean, (857) 218-3193
 

2:45 p.m. -3:45 p.m.
Franciscan Hospital for Children
30 Warren Street
Boston, MA 02135
Contact: Marisa Podolski, (617) 779-1414
 

Friday, December 9th

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
MassGeneral Hospital for Children
55 Fruit Street
Boston, MA 02114
Contact: Kory Dodd, (617) 726-0274
 

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
New England Center for Homeless Veterans
17 Court Street
Boston, MA 02108
Contact: Stephen Cunniff, (617) 371-1701
 

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Boston Medical Center - Pediatric Wing
771 Albany Street
Boston, MA 02118
Contact: Gina DiGravio, (617) 638-8480