Major League Ballplayer Anthony Rizzo Visits Pediatric Cancer Patients, Donates $25,000

He has spent nearly his entire adult life performing on professional baseball’s biggest stages, but Anthony Rizzo has never forgotten what it’s like to be a kid with cancer. It’s what drove the Hodgkin’s lymphoma survivor to start the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation in 2012 to aid pediatric cancer families and it’s what had him entertaining patients during a recent visit to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.

Rizzo, a Parkland native, spent time cheering up kids in the Child Life Zone and also toured the recently-renovated Anthony Rizzo Family Lounge his foundation provided funding for. Rizzo made one other stop, joining the “KISS Cares for Kids” Radiothon and pledging $25,000 to the children’s hospital’s foundation. Since 2019, the ballplayer and his nonprofit organization have contributed nearly $2 million to aid kids and families at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.