Festivities at Fenway to Raise Money, Awareness for Home Base Program to Help United States Veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq Wars with Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

BOSTON, Nov 11, 2009 – In honor of Veterans Day, more than 200 volunteers walked from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to Fenway Park as part of a 5K trek to raise awareness for the “Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program” and announce a new grassroots fundraiser called “Run to Home Base”.

 

Welcoming the walkers to Fenway Park was United States Senator Paul Kirk, who now occupies the Senate seat previously held by the late United States Senator Ted Kennedy. Senator Kennedy played a lead role in creating the Red Sox Foundation and Mass General Hospital Home Base Program before his death late this summer. His widow Vicki Kennedy and niece Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg have agreed to serve as Honorary Board Directors for the Home Base Program.

 

 

 

“On this day, we rededicate to all our veterans who have served America so well in years gone by, and to all the men and women serving so bravely now in extraordinarily difficult circumstances,” said Senator Kirk. “They serve our nation faithfully, despite the dangers, and despite their lengthy deployments far from families and friends. We have an obligation to give to our returning veterans every benefit a thankful nation can bestow. The Red Sox Foundation Home Base Program at Mass General does exactly that.”

 

US Military personnel from units across New England attended the Veterans Day event yesterday, including members of the US Army’s 804th Medical Brigade, 399th Combat Support Hospital, 794th Medical Detachment and 287th Medical Company as well as the US Naval Reserve Center, and the Air Force’s 66th Air Base Wing, 350th Electronic Systems Wing, 551st Electronic Systems Wing, 554th Electronic Systems Wing, 653rd Electronic Systems Wing. In honor of Veterans Day, the Red Sox also offered free admission to Fenway Park tours for veterans and their families throughout the day. To show your support for the Home Base Program and Run to Home Base, click here.

 

The “Run to Home Base” will be scheduled in 2010 as a fundraising event for the Red Sox Foundation and MGH Home Base Program. Pending required city approvals, the organizers hope to have participants cross the Red Sox “home base” at historic Fenway Park as the event’s finish line. Dates and details for the inaugural 2010 “Run to Home Base” will be announced early next year.

 

“On behalf of John Henry, Tom Werner, our entire ownership group and members of the Red Sox Front Office, I am proud to pay tribute to the many service men and women who have sacrificed so much to protect our freedoms and our way of life. We are all in their debt,” said Red Sox President/CEO Larry Lucchino. “We also thank the hundreds of volunteers who walked today to not only raise funds for “The Red Sox Foundation and MGH Home Base Program” but to raise the awareness of this new program for veterans with Traumatic Brain Injuries and deployment- and combat-related stress, and their families. We look forward to hosting the “Run to Home Base” event next year at Fenway Park to serve our nation’s heroes. And to all veterans, ‘Welcome Home’.”

 

Today’s 5K walk was proudly led by Retired U.S. Army General Fred Franks who commanded Gulf War coalition VII Corp and lost his leg in Vietnam General Franks now serves as a consultant and senior advisor to the Red Sox Foundation and Mass General Hospital Home Base Program. When they arrived at Fenway Park, the walkers sent email messages to the troops thanking them for their service, and telling them about the Home Base Program. A pre-walk breakfast at Mass General celebrated veteran employees and was also attended by Boston Red Sox Manager Terry Francona and his wife Jacque. The Francona’s son Nick serves as a Lt in the US Marine Corps.

 

“This morning, we not only honored our own MGH employees who have served their country and those with family members currently deployed, but we continued to bring awareness to the problems that veterans suffering from deployment- and combat-related stress and TBI face,” said Peter L. Slavin, MD, president of the MGH. He added, “The Home Base Program will heighten the awareness of these issues and allow people to help support the program’s activities through events such as the Run to Home Base which we will announce in more detail early next year.”

 

The Home Base Program — created by the Red Sox Foundation and Mass General Hospital — was announced last month at a special ceremony at Fenway Park. Working in cooperation with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Home Base Program provides clinical service for veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq who are affected by post-traumatic stress disorder (deployment- and combat-related stress) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their families. In addition, the program includes groundbreaking research, family outreach and educational components for veterans, families, health professionals, social workers, clergy and others in the community on TBI and deployment- and combat-related stress, the two so-called “signature wounds” affecting service men and women returning from combat in the current war.

 

About the Red Sox Foundation

The official team charity of the Boston Red Sox, the Red Sox Foundation is committed to using the power of Red Sox Nation to support community partnerships that will improve the lives of children, adults and families across New England. The Foundation’s efforts are primarily focused on four cornerstone programs, and the new Home Base Program. A 501(c)3 nonprofit, the Red Sox Foundation raises most of its funds through special events with Red Sox owners, players and their wives and supporters’ donations and fundraising activities. Founded and initially funded by Red Sox Principal Owner John Henry, Chairman Tom Werner, President/CEO Larry Lucchino and their partners, the Red Sox Foundation has won numerous awards for its innovative programs and impact in the community. For more information about the Red Sox Foundation, please visit www.redsoxfoundation.org

 

About Massachusetts General Hospital

Founded in 1811, Massachusetts General Hospital is the third oldest general hospital in the United States and the oldest and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. Each year, the 907-bed academic medical center admits nearly 50,000 patients, performs more than 37,000 surgical procedures, delivers more than 3,600 babies and takes care of nearly 1.5 million patients in its extensive outpatient programs and Emergency Department on its main campus as well as in suburban ambulatory care centers and neighborhood health centers. The MGH conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the United States, with an annual research budget of $550 million. In 1994, the MGH, along with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, founded Partners HealthCare, an integrated health care delivery system that includes the two founding academic medical centers, community hospitals, primary care and specialty physicians, specialty hospitals, community health centers, non-acute services and other health-related entities. Mass General consistently ranks among the top few hospitals in the nation in the U.S. News & World Report best hospital survey, and the MGH was the first hospital in the state to be designated a Magnet hospital, the highest honor for nursing excellence.

 

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