The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they will be cancelling the 8th Annual Cardinals Care 6K Run/Walk this Sunday due to a lack of sufficient secondary police staffing available to help secure the route's street closures in the Downtown St. Louis.
The number of available police officers able to work secondary has been significantly reduced since local law enforcement has had to increase manpower by eliminating time off and going to mandatory twelve hour shifts following the recent Jason Stockley murder trial verdict.
"While we are disappointed that we have to cancel the run, we think it is necessary given everything going on in our community," said Michael Hall, Vice President of Community Relations and Executive Director of Cardinals Care. "We appreciate everyone's understanding and their generosity in supporting our mission to help children in our community."
Cardinals Care will be sending each registered participant a package that includes a 6K medal, a 6K t-shirt, Fredbird bobblehead, a coupon for Chipotle, and a voucher good for two complimentary tickets to a 2018 Cardinals regular season game.
The Cardinals Care 6K Run/Walk is a fundraising event for Cardinals Care. Cardinals Care was established to give fans a way of teaming up with Cardinals players and the organization to help children in our community - both on and off the baseball field. Established in 1997, Cardinals Care has invested over $22 million to support St. Louis area children and built 23 youth ball fields in local under-resourced neighborhoods. Most recently, the Cardinals dedicated Dexter Fowler Field in Decatur, Illinois in July.  This season marked the 14th year of Cardinals Care's innovative Redbird Rookies program, a free baseball league for kids who otherwise might not have the opportunity to play. In addition to providing all the uniforms, gloves, bats, balls and other equipment needed for each team, Redbird Rookies also provides extensive off-field support in the areas of health, education, mentoring and the cultural arts for each of the nearly 3,000 kids who participate in the program each year.