Michigan High School Athletic Association - Promoting Educational Athletics
Michigan High School Athletic Association - Promoting Educational Athletics |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 29, 2008 Two Mid-Michigan Umpires Associations Making EAST LANSING, Mich. – April 29– For the second straight year, baseball and softball umpires from mid-Michigan will be pledging their first game fees in the month of May towards the continued improvement of children’s health care in their part of the state. On May 1 over 60 umpires working baseball and softball games at 30 locations will be donating their game fee to Officials for Kids, a charitable initiative of the Michigan High School Athletic Association in conjunction with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. The money raised will be used at the local Children’s Miracle Network facility, Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, towards the maintenance of its new Pediatric Emergency Room and Waiting Room, which opened earlier this year. Two local officials associations are involved this year. A group of umpires assigned to games in the Lansing area by Ken Sudall is involved in the program for the second straight year. Involved for the first time this season is the Heart of Michigan Officials Association, with umpires assigned by Bruce Moss of Alma. The Lansing area sites are mostly Capital Area Activities Conference members. Those home field sites on Thursday are: Lansing Catholic Central, Charlotte, Corunna, DeWitt, Eaton Rapids, East Lansing, Lansing Everett, Grand Ledge, Haslett, Holt, Ionia, Jackson, Jackson Northwest, Jackson Lumen Christi, Lake Odessa Lakewood, Lansing Eastern, Lansing Sexton, Lansing Waverly, Mason, Okemos, Owosso, Perry, Portland, St. Johns and Stockbridge. The sites assigned by the Heart of Michigan Officials Association are at Mid-State Athletic Conference schools: Ashley, Blanchard-Montabella, Carson City-Crystal, Coleman and Vestaburg. The Give-A-Game program has been used has been used by different local officials associations around the state to solicit donations, and the initiative also serves to increase awareness of the Officials for Kids cause while generating public support for the Children’s Miracle Network. The Officials for Kids Program takes on a local focus at each Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in the state. In addition to the efforts to benefit Sparrow Hospital,Officials for Kids has a program at Beaumont Hospital in Detroit called Referees For Reading, where monies raised help fund a pediatric ward book cart, and officials give of their time to read to children. At DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, members of the West Michigan Officials Association have conducted Give-A-Game donations the past three years to assist programs for visually impaired pediatric patients and the hospital’s Children’s Burn Camp. At Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Officials for Kids donations will go towards Camp REACH, which fights childhood obesity. Officials for Kids began in early 2003 as a small group of mid-Michigan officials dedicated to the future of children’s healthcare & the Children’s Miracle Network. The ultimate hope for the program is that officials personal & association pledges, along with participation in fundraising events & initiatives, will make Officials for Kids a name synonymous with the continued improvement of children’s healthcare across the state. For more information about Officials For Kids click here. -0- AT&T, Farm Bureau Insurance, Henry Ford Health System and MEEMIC Insurance |