Spokane, WA – For over 10 years the Spokane Indians and Premera Blue Cross have teamed up for the Premera Care-A-Van, a program where children in local hospitals receive a visit from OTTO the Mascot and current Indians players. The first of three Care-A-Van visits is today at Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for Premera Blue Cross and the Indians to bring hope to children at our local hospitals,” said Senior Vice President Otto Klein. “These brave kids are going through a lot and its rewarding for all of us to see smiles on their faces.”
In addition to the visit from players and mascots, the children will receive a Care-A-Van Backpack full of Spokane Indians items courtesy of Premera Blue Cross. The Indians also provide tickets for former patients who have now recovered and are living in the Spokane area.
“I’ll never forget how happy the kids were to see us and how much our visit lifted their spirits,” said former Indians player Brett Nicholas. “I’m glad to see the program will continue in 2012, and that new players will be able to experience what I did.”
The Indians and Premera Blue Cross have three Care-A-Vans planned for this year, including today at Sacred Heart, August 14th at Deaconess Medical Center, and August 21st at Shriners Hospital for Children. All media are invited to attend.
For more information about the Premera Care-A-Van program, please call (509) 535-2922.
Tonight’s game is the second game of a three game series against the Tri-City Dust Devils and is Baseball Hat Giveaway presented by Pepsi, Arby’s, and The Inlander. The first 1,000 fans and all Banner Bank Diamond Club Members will receive a FREE limited edition Spokane Indians Baseball Hat. Also tonight, kids are encouraged to stick around after the game for the Supercuts Post-Game Circle the Bases promotion. The game starts at 6:30 p.m. with gates opening at 5:30 p.m. Tickets for all Spokane Indians home games are available for purchase at the Indians Ticket Office or at spokaneindians.com. Reserve your seats today by calling (509) 343-OTTO (6886) or TicketsWest at 1-800-325-SEAT.
This article originally appeared on the official website of the Spokane Indians. Click here to view the original story.

In an effort to raise awareness about the Princeton Rays, as well as reach out to the region’s children and parents, P-Rays’ staff members have been spotted in many area youth ballparks this spring. The team has been doing this annually each spring since 2007 to promote the beginning of the season as a part of their annual Little League Caravan. The 2011 version of the caravan concluded with stops that included Narrows, VA on June 6, along Baileysville, WV and Alderson, WV on June 9.

LAKEWOOD, NJ – The BlueClaws will host their annual Troop Supply Drive on Military Appreciation Night at their June 14th game (7:05), a night that also features an appearance by the Phillie Phanatic, thanks to OceanFirst Bank.
(Vancouver, BC) – Vancouver Canadians mascot Bob Brown Bear was thrilled to get a chance to attend ‘Dreamnight’, which is an annual event organized by the Vancouver Aquarium to share their facility with children that have life threatening illness.













The 201l IronPigs Charities annual report details all of the club’s initiatives from this past year. IronPigs Charities donated $106,000 to local non-profits over the last year, the highest yearly contribution to date.
The Tulsa Drillers and the Tulsa Public Schools jointly announced today that the baseball club is joining the Tulsa Metro Chamber’s Partners In Education program to deliver an anti-bullying curriculum to elementary schools in the district.
Newark, DE – As a prelude to the 2012 Rocky’s Reading Challenge, Blue Rocks mascot Rocky Bluewinkle surprised the kindergarten through fourth grade students at Holy Angels School in Newark. Rocky entertained the children by acting out his favorite story, “Rocky at the Bat”, a varied rendition from the original story, “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer.Rocky surprised the students because he was assisting his friend, Hannah Zimmerman, who was working on the completion of her Gold Award project, sponsored by the Girl Scout Council. Her Read-A-Thon project included creating both a bulletin board in the hallway and a reading corner in the library at Holy Angels School. To cap off the project, Zimmerman designed a program similar to Rocky’s Reading Challenge, where kids need to read a minimum of 10 books over a four-week period.


