Hero Day is an amazing day where your child has the opportunity to be reminded of their inner hero!
Each year, we have the pleasure of hosting a new group of heroes and their families at the Omaha Baseball Village, where they get to experience the royal treatment – a tour of the village, free merch, and a family cookout. They can go around the village and practice their swing, test out a new glove, or enjoy some of the amazing food vendors we have!
As with every year past, we are bringing in several heroes from the Omaha community who are all fighting through courageous battles with their health. Many of us see our heroes everyday out on the field or on a screen, but oftentimes the true heroes are those fighting their own battles in hospitals or care centers. We are honored to have these young, inspiring individuals at the Omaha Baseball Village and give them the opportunity to just be a happy kid.
We also want to give a huge thank you to Scheels for being the sponsor of Hero Day and allowing them to shop the best sporting goods out there!
Our 2022 Hero Jimmy Moran
Jimmy Moran was a special boy. He loved his family, friends, dog, Nintendo, and so much more. He was a black belt, his favorite band was the Dropkick Murphys, and he attended St Pius X/St Leo School. His favorite TV shows were Regular Show, King of the Hill, and Adventure Time. He LOVED baseball. He started playing at Suburban when was 4, and he practiced it year round and never got tired of it. Tragically, Jimmy was diagnosed with a brain tumor in January 2022 and he passed away just 218 days later. What initially was thought to be just a lazy eye turned out to be DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma). DIPG is a devastating cancer that primarily impacts kids. It took away Jimmy’s ability to walk, use his hands, speak, swallow, and breathe in 7 months. Through it all, Jimmy never lost his optimism, never felt sorry for himself, and never stopped smiling.
After diagnosis, the only thing Jimmy wanted to do was play baseball again. We didn’t think it’d be possible, but we will always be grateful to the Omaha Baseball Village for giving him one last opportunity to play at Hero Day during the 2022 College World Series.
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The Cure Starts Now
Omaha Baseball Village is proud to host The Cure Starts Now which is one of our Flying Flags for Charity participants. DIPG is one of the deadliest cancers. Average survival of a child diagnosed with DIPG is less than 1 year. Only 2% of children survive 5 years after diagnosis. There is no cure. Standard treatment for DIPG is radiation—this has not changed since the 1960’s, and radiation will not cure DIPG, but will only prolong the child’s life by a couple of months. Pediatric cancer research is shamefully underfunded. Only 4% of the billions of dollars the government spends on cancer research goes towards pediatric cancer research. That’s why it is so important to donate to foundations like The Cure Starts Now, which is an organization that was created by another grieving family who
lost their child to DIPG. The Cure Starts Now has raised and donated over $30 million to fund the research that is so desperately needed, not only for DIPG, but for all pediatric brain cancer. Please join us at Flags for Charity and help us raise money for
this very worthy cause!
