W
ithin hours of the cameo in Game Three, Rally Squirrel Fever was spreading. Fast. Twitter touted Rally’s turning-point prowess with tweets vowing continued Cardinals success; Facebook pages shared YouTube videos of that glorious pivotal moment as the Phillies pitcher delivered the pitch to batter Skip Schumaker and a squirrel ran across the plate. St. Louisans had Rally Fever, and they had it bad.
LOYAL FANS St. Louisans are known for some wonderful traits: kindness, loyalty, enthusiasm, generosity and eagerly rallying around a good cause—and they’re among the most dedicated Major League Baseball fans around. That’s why so many St. Louisans and businesses support worthy causes like the kids at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center. And, evidently, that’s why St. Louisans went nuts over their latest celebrity, Rally Squirrel.
GAME PLAN Friday afternoon before NLDS Game Five, Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation Communications Manager Rose Fogarty worked busily to wrap up her week’s work. Suddenly, in an entrance much like that made famous by “Seinfeld” character Cosmo Kramer,
“It was immediately apparent that Rally was something spiritual— sent from God.”
Foundation Executive Director Dan Buck burst through the door exclaiming, “I HAVE AN IDEA! Let’s make Rally Squirrel shirts, hats with furry tails and Rally Squirrel trading cards! Cardinals fans will love them!” Buck knew there couldn’t be a better charitable match-up for a cute, cuddly squirrel than with cute, Cardinal Glennon kids. Besides, with its reputation for compassionate patient care and the near-miracles it provides, and Rally Squirrel’s accelerating notoriety for making great things happen— it was a perfect match! Buck couldn’t wait to tell Rally...
unique SSM Cardinal Glennon-inspired logo for Rally Squirrel. Within hours, the logo was finalized, and the Foundation staff was contacting vendors in search of red shirts—in lots of 5,000. Luckily, Sportsprint stepped into the batter’s box with Lipic’s Recognition and Crown Embroidery on deck. By Sunday, long-time SSM Cardinal Glennon supporter Anheuser-Busch was on board to help fund the effort with a
Rally hits a grand slam for our kids (Oct. 7 - Oct. 28), 22 days = $470,000 That’s $21,364 a day! That evening as the Cardinals won the NLDS, the Foundation staff prepared to launch its mission into the middle of the Rally Squirrel frenzy. Rallying for the Cardinals and Cardinal Glennon kids would be the walk-off home run everyone was awaiting. Welcome to the Cardinal Glennon team, Rally!
STARTING LINE-UP Buck’s idea called for T-shirts, hats with faux squirrel tails and trading cards with Rally Squirrel’s image; and, they needed to be ready in three days. Three days??? The Foundation’s first phone call was to local commercial artist (and infamous St. Louis Blues “Towel Man”) Ron Baechle who immediately started creating a Rally squirrel spokesperson Lauren Lee announces Rally’s charity apparel at the Kiener Plaza press conference.
$30,000 grant. Topping it off, thenPresident and CEO of Anheuser-Busch Dave Peacock and his staff helped the Foundation establish a full merchandise distribution plan through some of the brewery’s top retail accounts. The Foundation and its volunteers worked fast-and-furious to meet the three-day deadline to pull
together a full-fledged Rally Squirrel charity apparel line for the Medical Center. Big news calls for media coverage, so Buck recruited Rally Squirrel spokesperson, 12-year-old Hodgkin’s lymphoma survivor Lauren Lee who immediately signed on to assist the medical center she credits with saving her life. First thing Monday morning, Lauren appeared on Fox 2 News, unveiling Rally’s charity apparel and announcing the next day’s start of sales at the Anheuser-Busch retail outlets. Following her morning news debut, Lauren joined the Foundation staff at Kiener Plaza downtown for a press conference with all major St. Louis television and radio stations. With that kind of all-star lineup, it was time to throw the first pitch!
glennon.org Spring 2012 • 11