Yankees Affiliate Has Donated More than $450,000 in Past 12 Years
The Charleston RiverDogs have yet again left a large paw print on the fight against blindness and the disease retinitis pigmentosa.
Between games of Tuesday night’s doubleheader against the Greenville Drive, RiverDogs General Manager Dave Echols presented a check for $25,000 to Dr. Ed Wilson, M.D. and representatives from the MUSC Storm Eye Institute.
The donation comes primarily from the RiverDogs’ 12th annual Kindness Beats Blindness auction that was held on June 25. With turnouts in the thousands in each of the 12 years of the auction, the team and community as a whole have raised more than $450,000 towards preventative research for the degenerative eye disease.
“We are grateful for the RiverDogs continued support in our quest to find cures and treatments for blinding eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa,” said Dr. Wilson. “The RiverDogs’ generosity over the last 12 years has been crucial to the work that our vision scientists are doing in this area,”
The auction hits close to the RiverDogs’ family since Rebecca, the daughter of club president Mike Veeck was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a group of inherited diseases causing retinal degeneration. Veeck and his wife, Libby, have dedicated themselves and most of their charitable efforts toward fighting blindness.
“Our entire staff takes a great deal of pride in our combined efforts with the Charleston community to raise money for research,” said General Manager Dave Echols. “The grace with which Rebecca and the Veeck family have handled this disease is inspiring to observe.”
For more information on the MUSC Storm Eye Institute and their effort to battle RP and other degenerative retinal diseases, visit www.muschealth.com/eyes.
