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Source: Janet Basu
415-476-2557
17 November 2003
Ronnie Lott shares Monday night with UCSF Children's Hospital
When the San Francisco 49ers retire Ronnie Lott's Number 42 at the Monday Night Game on November 17, they also are opening their arms to children's charities close to Ronnie's heart -- including UCSF Children's Hospital. Volunteers at the game will be selling tickets to sponsor a light on Macy's Union Square Holiday Tree, a first-time-ever fundraiser to benefit children with life-threatening illness and their families.
* Look for the UCSF Children's Hospital ambulance in Parking Lot C near Gate F -- headquarters for ticket sales by UCSF staff, Macy's employees, members of the San Francisco Police Officers Association and members of Ronnie Lott's All Stars Helping Kids. They've all joined with the Niners to make this benefit a success.
* Look for volunteers in purple sweatshirts at gates A, C and F before the game and in the concourse once the game begins.
* Every ticket bought at the game by the end of halftime comes with a souvenir pin of the holiday tree --AND A CHANCE TO WIN A NO. 42 JERSEY autographed by Ronnie Lott himself.
* Each $10 ticket sponsors a light on Macy's Union Square Holiday Tree.
* All are invited to the free tree lighting ceremony, at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 28 -- a traditional gift to San Francisco from Macy's West.
* Tickets to sponsor lights also can be purchased now through Dec. 24, online at www.ucsfhealth.org/tree or call toll free (888) 689-UCSF.
* EVERY PENNY TO SPONSOR A LIGHT OR A STRING OF LIGHTS GOES TO HELP HOSPITALIZED KIDS AND THEIR PARENTS AT UCSF CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL.
REPORTERS NOTE: This fundraiser is a grassroots effort, started by nurses at UCSF Children's Hospital with help from Macy's and All Stars Helping Kids and embraced by the community.
FOR INTERVIEWS and PHOTO OPS ON GAME DAY: call (415) 476-2557 for UCSF News Services or page Janet Basu 415-719-0189 or Maureen McInaney 415-719-8028 -- and look for volunteers in purple sweatshirts at the game.
FOR STORIES ABOUT PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES: contact UCSF News Services representative Janet Basu, 415-476-2557 or page 719-0189
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BACKGROUND: RONNIE LOTT AND UCSF CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
When you see Ronnie Lott hunker down to chat with a hospitalized child, it's immediately clear why he and his wife, Karen founded a charity to help children. The 10-time Pro Bowler, 4-time Super Bowl winner is one of the most feared and respected players in the game. His former 49ers coach Bill Walsh called him "the best defensive back who ever played." With children, he is simply the best.
During a recent visit to UCSF Children's Hospital, Lott crouched down to talk face to face to a child propped up on pillows in a little red wagon, an intravenous medication pole wheeling along behind. The boy was shy at first, then he smiled; then the big man and the tiny child with tubes in his arms became teammates, trading a thumbs up. And the kid knew, because Ronnie told him so in a gentle voice aimed only at him, that every person is a star, in his own way.
So it's not surprising that at the NFL Monday Night Game on November 17, when the San Francisco 49ers retire his Number 42 jersey - the highest honor a team can bestow -- Lott is sharing the spotlight with others. That includes his other team, the charitable organization All Stars Helping Kids. It includes Glide Memorial Church, whose choir will sing at halftime, and volunteers for the first-ever Macy's Holiday Tree benefit for UCSF Children's Hospital.
The Lotts and their charitable organization, All Stars Helping Kids, have supported many programs to help the staff of UCSF Children's Hospital provide enriching and comforting experiences for young patients and their families. With the Niners, they are helping UCSF Children's Hospital and Macy's West in a benefit sponsoring lights on the huge Macy's tree that shines throughout the holiday season in Union Square.
Funds from the benefit will go to essential child- and family-centered programs that aren't always covered by insurance. They will help families cope at the most difficult of times - when their child is faced with a life-threatening illness.
UCSF Children's Hospital, cradled within UCSF Medical Center, has an 85-YEAR TRADITION of care for the special medical needs of children. It is:
* Ranked as the best pediatric hospital in California and one of the top 10 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.
* The center for children with serious and life-threatening conditions from Northern California and around the world. The 180-bed hospital admits 5,600 children a year -- including 1,600 born in the UCSF Center for Mothers and Newborns.
* Renowned for discoveries that save tens of thousands of children's lives each year, for its specialist physicians and surgeons in more than 40 pediatric fields, and for its staff devoted entirely to children's care.
* The center for pioneers and national leaders in neonatal intensive care; fetal and newborn surgery; childhood cancers; advances in treating heart defects; kidney and liver transplants for babies and children; bone marrow transplants for kids with cancer and complex immune disorders; and many more life-threatening and complex conditions.
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