Holland joins fight to strike out cancer
SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Rangers pitcher Derek Holland is joining Cardinals reliever Jason Motte and other Major League players in the fight against cancer.
"Let's Strike Out Cancer" was started by Motte to help people directly affected by the disease. He has since enlisted the MLB Player's Association and other players from all thirty teams to join the fight and fans can help by purchasing any K Cancer t-shirt. With the purchase of any K Cancer tee, five dollars will go to the Jason Motte Foundation, and five dollars will go to another player's charity.
Holland's t-shirts are available at the 108stitches.com website. Holland is in the process of deciding which charity his t-shirts will benefit.
"My focus is going to be on kids with cancer," Holland said. "They deserve it more than anything. It's devastating. To see kids with cancer hits me really hard and I want to do anything I can to help them and see their dreams come true."
The website 108stitches.com went live on March 17, with 108 Stitches showcasing the "Strike Out Cancer" tees in each team's colors. Each is promoted by a different player who agreed to join Motte in a partnership that will benefit multiple charities. Each participating player has chosen a charity that will benefit from the T-shirts sales, and for each shirt sold, $5 will go to the Jason Motte Foundation and $5 to a charity of that player's choice. A full list of recipient charities will be listed on the 108 Stitches website soon, along with a photo of each player rep in his team-colored shirt.
"At the end of the day, it's about reaching people," Motte said. "Baseball is great and everything, but there are other really important things going on out there that affect a lot of people. Wearing these T-shirts shows people that they're not alone. They're not sitting there doing chemo by themselves where no one cares. People do care, whether it's friends, family or baseball players. There are people who this has touched and this has affected. This is something we're trying to do to get the word out there and try to raise money to help."
Holland was the 2013 recipient of the Jim Sundberg Community Achievement Award for his many contributions to the community. His charitable efforts include donations to the Children's Medical Center in both Fort Worth and Dallas.