A Night of Cake, Baseball and Charity: IE 66ers to Honor TUF Co-Founder Tim Evans as Hometown Hero

The crack of a baseball on a bat will fill the stadium. The scent of barbecue will fill the air. The sound of cheering will be heard throughout the night. The dust will fly and settle. Residents will help raise funds for a noble cause. The public is invited to join The Unforgettables Foundation (TUF) and the Inland Empire 66ers for a night of all-American baseball and charity during the Unforgettable Baseball Birthday Bash on Monday, July 22, where the 66ers and Angels baseball will honor TUF co-founder Chaplain Tim Evans as the Wells Fargo Hometown Hero. An organization run almost entirely by volunteers, Evans co-founded The Unforgettables in 1999 after spending a decade providing clinical ministries to children and their families at the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital. “I worked with a lot of families who lost children,” Evans said. Realizing the financial burdens these families experienced during this time of tragedy—cremation can cost a family anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars, and burials anywhere from $1,000 to $15,000—Evans created The Unforgettables Foundation as a way to provide those in need with financial assistance to help offset the costs of their child’s funeral arrangements. The Unforgettables Foundation assists in funeral services for families who have lost children anywhere from 30 weeks of gestation to 18 years of age, and is assembled of educators, medical professionals, social workers, morticians and other community volunteers who all work to provide low-income families with a dignified burial for their children who have passed away. Since its establishment, the Foundation has helped approximately 4,000 families throughout San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange Counties, with some isolated cases coming from as far away as Los Angeles and San Diego Counties. “There are about 250 cases each year where we provide financial service, and about 100 or so cases where we help in other ways,” said Evans. Going above and beyond, the Foundation also lends an ear to those who need to talk through their grief, oftentimes referring families to professional counselors and mortuaries. The Foundation also partners with children’s hospitals in Toronto and Ottawa in Canada and looks to establish partnerships in the Midwest and Las Vegas areas, Evans noted. “This is a great honor we are being paid by the 66ers and Angels baseball,” said Evans of the Hometown Hero recognition. In the past, TUF has received recognition by eHow.com, who listed TUF as one organization who can truly help during a time of tragedy. “On that list, we were the oldest, most comprehensive, longest-established and had worked on the most cases,” said Evans. In the summer of 2010, TUF was named by People magazine and Major League Baseball® as one of 90 All Stars Among Us for their work. The Unforgettables will celebrate 14 years of service to the Inland Empire and jointly will celebrate Evans’s 55th birthday on July 22. Evans is set to throw the game’s opening pitch alongside TUF first chair Dr. Tom Sherwin, M.D., a pediatric surgeon at Loma Linda University Medical Center. Adult tickets to the event are $55 per person and children’s are $33. Tickets include 90 minutes of all-you-can-eat hot dogs, hamburgers, BBQ chicken, potato salad, baked beans, soda and water, a souvenir T-shirt and a hard seat to the game where the Inland Empire 66ers take on the Lake Elsinore Storm. “Birthday cake, baseball and benefiting charity is what the night is about,” said Evans. Gates for those attending the Unforgettable Baseball Birthday Bash will open at 5:30 p.m. Food will be served from 5:30 to 7 p.m., with the game starting at 7:05 p.m. Approximately half of the proceeds of each ticket will directly benefit TUF. Tickets must be purchased ahead of the game date to attend. Contact The Unforgettables Foundation at 909-335-1655 to purchase tickets or for more information. The San Manuel Stadium is located at 280 South E St., San Bernardino, CA 92401.