The Sunshine Kids Foundation is a non-profit organization established in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, in 1982 that provides a variety of free programs and events for children who are receiving

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

treatments in hospitals across the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Since 2001, the executive director of the Sunshine Kids Foundation has been actor

G.W. Bailey G. W. Bailey (born August 27, 1944) is an American actor. His roles include Staff Sergeant Luther Rizzo in ''M*A*S*H'' (TV series 1979–1983), Lieutenant/Captain Thaddeus Harris in the ''Police Academy'' films (1984–1994), and Captain Felix ...

, who has volunteered with the group for over fifteen years since being introduced to the organization by his goddaughter, who was diagnosed with leukemia in 1982. In 2004, the group had a total revenue of over $1.9 million, and spent nearly $1.3 million on program expenses. The best-known supporters of The Sunshine Kids are Bailey and retired

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

legend

Craig Biggio Craig Alan Biggio (; born December 14, 1965) is an American former baseball second baseman, outfielder, and catcher who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Houston Astros, from 1988 to 2007. A seven-time National League (baseball), ...

, who has been the organization's national spokesperson for more than 10 years. He wore a Sunshine Kids pin on his hat during

Spring Training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

for over 15 years, the majority of his career. It also appeared on his '3000 hits' banner when he reached the historic milestone during his final season, as well as his

retired number Retiring the number of an athlete is an honor a team bestows upon a player, usually after the player has left the team, retires from the sport, or dies, by taking the number formerly worn on their uniform out of circulation. Once a number is retir ...

plaque at

Minute Maid Park Daikin Park (originally Enron Field and formerly Astros Field and Minute Maid Park) is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 and is the home ballpark of the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). ...

References

#"The Sunshine Kids" (Available: 30 January 2006

#"Charity Navigator Rating - The Sunshine Kids Foundation" (Available: 30 January 2006

External links

Official web site of The Sunshine Kids
Children's charities based in the United States Cancer charities in the United States Charities based in Texas Medical and health organizations based in Texas {{Charity-org-stub