Project Sunshine brought Yankee Centerfielder Brett Gardner to a New York City children´s
hospital to read baseball–themed books and visit pediatric patients on Friday, May 15 2009.
Gardner thought he was having the night off to sit on the bench and watch the game against the Minnesota
Twins. Instead, Johnny Damon was ejected from the game in the third inning and the 25–year old Gardner was
pressed into service and hit the new Stadium´s first inside–the–park homer as the Yankees were trailing 4-1
in the seventh. He then helped the Yankees´ game–winning three–run rally in the ninth with a leadoff triple
off the Twins Joe Nathan.
Gardner attributes his good luck to a Project Sunshine bracelet given to him by a pediatric patient
at Morgan Stanley Children´s Hospital. "One girl gave me a bracelet and I asked her what it was for. She said
it was for me and if I kept it, I´d hit a home run," said Gardner.
As it turns out, this is exactly what happened. But what Brett did not know yet was that another miracle would take the
next morning. After waiting over 100 days for a heart transplant, the girl received a new heart. Her parents had taped
the game and while the girl was in the recovery room she was able to watch Gardner hit his famous homerun.
"He did it for me," she said.
On June 12th Brett Gardner was reunited with heart patient!
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Please allow up to 4 weeks for delivery of bracelets due to high volume of orders.
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The "Shine Bracelet" is the perfect way to show your support for children
facing medical challenges across the globe. Made of Japanese cotton cord and lead-free base metal, the bracelets are
handmade by adolescent women to teach the importance of giving back - one bracelet at a time! Each bracelet has
the PS logo on one side and the word "shine" on the other.
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About Project Sunshine
Project Sunshine is a nonprofit organization that empowers a dynamic and dedicated corps of over 10,000
volunteers to bring key programs – recreational (arts), educational (tutoring and mentoring) and social service
(HIV and nutritional counseling) – to over 60,000 children facing medical challenges and their families in 100
major cities across the United States, and in five international satellite sites: Canada, China, Israel,
Kenya, and Puerto Rico. Project Sunshine is dedicated to bringing a ray of hope to these hospitalized children.
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