I had the amazing opportunity on July 9th to spend the day seeing magic happen.

I got to spend the morning meeting Ryan Howard (and interviewing him!) and then I got to see Ryan in action with children of the local Kansas City Boys and Girls Clubs. He spent time with them teaching them batting skills, and then held a “little” Home Run Derby with all the kids!

It was an UTTER BLAST!

I had the great opportunity to be paired up with a little boy named David (who ended up hitting 6 homeruns!). The goal was to hit as many homeruns as possible, and with each homerun, money would be donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs.

Let’s put it this way… I needed to represent as a mom of all BOYS!

OK… I didn’t hit a home run, but $5000 was donated during our mock Home Run Derby! 🙂

But it was the amazing event that I was proud to be there for and you still have time to help raise money!

For the third consecutive year, State Farm and Major League Baseball (MLB) rallied fans to swing for the fences to benefit outstanding charitable organizations.

Fans are invited to visit www.statefarm.com/gotobat and play the State Farm Go to Bat game. Each participant selects one of four deserving charities: the American Red Cross, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Habitat for Humanity or Teach For America, all of which represent charities State Farm supports to help build safer, stronger and better-educated communities. Once a week for 10 weeks, one participating fan will be randomly selected and the charity they chose to support will receive an $18,000 donation. The lucky contestant also will receive a VIP trip for two to the 2012 World Series. A total of 10 winners will be drawn throughout the program, spanning the second half of the MLB season, concluding on September 17.

“State Farm has always been committed to helping communities “get to a better state.” Giving baseball fans the opportunity to go to bat for causes that make a difference in their neighborhoods is a perfect example,” said Tim Van Hoof, Assistant Vice President-Marketing at State Farm. “We’re excited about giving back with every home run hit and encourage everyone out there to go to bat online and swing for the fences.”

I have more videos to come of our weekend away!!

xo
Audrey

Disclosure: State Farm provided me with the trip and tickets to the Home Run Derby.