Cranston combines love of baseball and giving back at All-Star Week

PHILADELPHIA -- For Bryan Cranston, the offer to come to Philly for All-Star Week festivities led to an easy acceptance.

First, the Emmy Award-winning actor -- and passionate baseball fan -- would get to see the T-Mobile Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game. But equally important, he’d contribute to charitable causes, something he has a passion for doing.

“When they said, 'We’re doing a big charity event in Philadelphia, and there’s the All-Star Game too,' I said, ‘Who do I have to pay to come and do this?’” Cranston joked. “This is great. This is something I wanted to do right away. … If you’ve had a fortunate life, it’s a responsibility to be able to bring other people a bit of a better life.”

Pacifico Ford, a car dealership roughly four miles from Citizens Bank Park, was bustling with energy on Monday. With the Derby on tap for the evening and the All-Star Game a day away, fans wearing jerseys of Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper (and the occasional Heisenberg T-shirt) flocked to the sprawling parking lot. Many attendees donated blood as part of an American Red Cross blood drive and participated in a food drive which supported Sharing Excess, a Philadelphia-based food pantry. The World Central Kitchen, founded by José Andrés, was also there raising awareness for their current relief efforts in Venezuela.

Ford is the official vehicle of MLB and the American Red Cross is one of MLB’s major partners.

Cranston gave blood and encouraged those gathering to do the same. Jen Graham, the CEO of the American Red Cross Southeast Pennsylvania Region, emphasized the importance and impact of donating.

“You think of traumas. Surgeries, people battling cancers, those navigating sickle-cell diseases, the most important and common and relevant data people can receive is through a blood transfusion,” Graham said.

Graham credited Ford’s Philanthropy Division for its support.

“Ford Philanthropy is a global philanthropy, and we’ve been doing things around the world," said Mary Culler, the president of Ford Philanthropy. "But one of the things that we’ve wanted to try to do is harness our superpowers in moments of need, and work with nonprofits like the American Red Cross and World Central Kitchen to really focus our efforts with them, and bring our dealers into that world. The dealers are in every community across the country. When dealers activate in these types of moments, we know we can get the community to rally around the issues we’re working on together.”

And it certainly doesn’t hurt to have someone like Cranston -- the official voice of Ford -- headlining the event. He took photos with anyone who asked, and answered any questions such as, "What was your favorite scene in Breaking Bad?”

After the event ended, Cranston was on his way to the ballpark to enjoy one of his passions. The Dodgers fan said he first went to a game when he was five years old at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1961.

“If your team loses on a day, you’re a little sadder that day. And if your team wins, you’re a little happier,” Cranston said. “I am such a devoted fan.”

For those interested in donating blood, here are three options:

1. Call 1-800-Red-Cross
2. Visit redcrossblood.org
3. Download the Red Cross app.