A few years ago, at Comic Con in Providence, I walked by a vendor booth that had a giant pink fire truck. The fire truck had a ton of signatures on it. There were a few men dressed in pink shirts and there was a lot of activity at this particular booth. My son and I grabbed a flyer so I could read up on who this was and what they did. The booth, the fire truck, the firefighters dressed in pink, the signatures, the cause all centered around a very special Rhode Island charity organization – The Rhode Island Chapter of Pink Heals.

According to their website (www.ripinktrucks.com), “Rhode Island Pink Heals are a 501(c)3 non-profit that raises money to assist men, women, and children battling ALL cancers.  All the money we raise is given back to the community.  We are firefighters, police officers, EMS workers, nurses, school teachers, SURVIVORS, and more that want to help the people in our own community.” The Pink Heals spread love and joy to families that are suffering from the pain of a loved one fighting cancer or who has recently lost a family member to cancer. Their flower deliveries are, according to Matt Medeiros, “a celebration of life.” Matt mentioned that his organization is so proud that the RI Chapter utilizes 100% of their donations for Rhode Island families.

And what about the pink vehicles? Matt and I met Saturday morning and he pulled out a few of the pink vehicles for me to check out. “Each vehicle is named for a very special person,” added Matt. “Susanne was donated by the Warwick Police Department. It is dedicated to a woman who worked in the Town Hall in Warwick, which sits across from the Warwick Police Station.”

“Patricia was named after my mom, a cancer survivor herself,” stated Matt. “She is brand new, you can see there are barely any signatures on her so far. Patricia is a very useful vehicle because of the storage compartments for the flowers, our signature shirts, and proudly displays the 911 logo and American flag on the back.”

“The truck dedication ceremony features the person signing the truck whom the truck is dedicated to,” shared Matt. “Sadly, if the vehicle ceremony involves a cancer patient who passed away, we include the family in the process of signing the first signature on the vehicle.” This was the case with “Jenna” who tragically lost her battle with brain cancer. Matt brought me into his storage garage to share the stories of Jenna with me.

Meeting Matt, “Susanne”, “Jenna” and “Patricia” and reading the love notes and condolences and well wishes just filled me with joy and sorrow and a deeper appreciation of life. This is why I chose the Rhode Island Chapter of the Pink Heals as my charity of choice for my Mother’s Day book entitled, “Rhode Island Baseball Moms Are Cool.” The book is a compilation of stories told by and about Rhode Island baseball Moms. I want to pay some big time respect to my mother, my wife, my sister, my sister-in-law, my Rhode Island Baseball Moms Network who take the time to make others better. This book will be a celebration of life, similar to the work done by the Pink Heals.

Due out on Mother’s Day, 2021, the book will be available for sale at a cost of $7.19. July 19th is my Mother’s birthday, thus the $7.19 book price tag. $5 of that price will go directly to the Rhode Island Chapter of the Pink Heals. And I will be setting up a special donation page if you would like to donate more than $5 to this local Rhode Island Charity. 100% of your additional donations will go directly to the Pink Heals. Take a moment to read some of these incredible notes written on Jenna, Patricia, and Susanne. The photo with the note “I love you Mom, get better” just took my breath away…

I have about 10 stories in the book so far. There is no maximum number I have to worry about. The book will be published online and available to download and share with others. If you have a great Rhode Island Baseball Mom story and have a few minutes to email it to me, I would be happy to include in my collection. You can email me at ribaseballexperience@gmail.com or through my Facebook page – RI Baseball Experience.

Here is how you can find out more about the Rhode Island Chapter of Pink Heals:

Website – www.ripinktrucks.com

Facebook – RI Chapter of Pink Heals

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