The Johan Santana Foundation will host the first Johan Santana All-Star Bowling Classic on June 21, 2010 at Lucky Strike in Manhattan. Proceeds will go to the foundation to help raise awareness and research of skin cancer.
Here’s the backstory, from the official press release:
In June 2007, Johan held the first Johan Santana Celebrity Bowl-A-Thon in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a tribute to Lynne Greenberg, the wife of one of his agents, Ed Greenberg, who had passed away from melanoma at age 42. Lynne Greenberg was considered a part of Santana’s extended family and together with her husband had attended family events and celebrated Santana’s successes as a close friend.
“I want people to know how to protect themselves and their families,” stresses Santana. “Make sure to put on sunscreen before you go out and reapply it after you swim, after you sweat, or even if you’re just hanging out. More than 90 percent of skin cancer is caused by too much sun.”
In addition to his foundation, in 2007, Santana became a spokesman for the Play Sun Smart™ program, a public service partnership that teams the American Academy of Dermatology (Academy) with Major League Baseball (MLB), and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) to educate players, teams, staff, and fans about the importance of skin cancer prevention and detection.
Since the program’s inception in 1999, more than 21,572 players, trainers, coaches, and staff members have been screened for skin cancer, and more than 600 suspicious lesions have been detected including 70 suspected melanomas.
For more information on how to be a part of the event, click here.
