Derrek Lee spreads awareness about LCA

Cubs first baseman spearheading campaign to raise donations
By Marc Zarefsky / MLB.com
CHICAGO -- Michael Barrett and Ryan Dempster have joined Cubs teammate Derrek Lee in the fight against Lebers Congenital Amaurosis, a rare genetic eye disease,and on Saturday, fans joined in the battle.
Lee's 1st Touch Foundation, along with Chicago Cubs Charities, challenged fans to pledge money for every home run Barrett hits or every save Dempster picksup, or by simply making a contribution in the fight to cure LCA. Lee's 4-year-old daughter Jada was diagnosed with the disease last year and is partiallyblind in one eye.
Fans could buy red "Believe the Unseen" bracelets to support Project 3000, a program launched by Lee and Boston Celtics CEO and co-owner Wyc Grousbeck tofind a cure for LCA. The group is trying to locate the 3,000 people believed to suffer from the disease and get them tested.
"We're just trying to get the word out and the awareness," Lee said. "Anything we can do is good."
Entering Saturday night's action, Lee is leading the National League in hitting, has reached base safely in all 28 games this season and has a 13-game hittingstreak. His efforts in the fight against LCA are making an even bigger impact.
Char Schwabero, who came to Saturday's game from Naperville, Ill., heard about Lee's daughter last year, and said she was more than happy to support thecause.
"Anytime they can get more money for research and help find a cure so [Jada] doesn't go blind is great," Schwabero said. "I know it's a good cause."
Two tables were set up at Wrigley Field on Saturday -- one at the corner of Addison and Sheffield Streets, and the other inside the main entrance -- sofans could receive information about LCA and donate to Project 3000.
"This is the first time LCA has ever been exposed like this," said Heather Scherber, development associate for the 1st Touch Foundation. "It's never beenput in front of an audience this big. It's the first time that it's ever getting national exposure, and so it is an absolutely groundbreaking [experience]."
Project 3000's goals are to identify everyone with LCA, offer affordable genetic testing, provide information about LCA and other rare eye diseases, andraise funds for LCA research. Lee and Grousbeck, who also has a child that suffers from LCA, teamed up with Dr. Edwin Stone and the University of Iowato work toward an eventual cure.
Supporting Lee and Project 3000 was an easy decision for Margaret Davison of Kankakee, Ill.
"If my daughter were ill, I'd want some help," Davison said.
Before Lee and his teammates took the field Saturday, Alan Brint, a 10-year-old from Highland Park, Ill., who has LCA, was honored with his family on thefield.
"What Derrek Lee has done, and Dr. Stone, too, is bring [LCA] to the forefront and make it something that the nation is now aware of," said Alan's mom,Betsy Brint.
"When I walked into the stadium, I saw a total stranger wearing a 'Play for LCA' T-shirt, and I almost burst into tears," Betsy Brint said. "This has beensuch a quiet disease, such a rare disease that people don't know about it, and I've spent the last 10 years trying to educate people and bring awarenessto it."
Barrett and Dempster got things started this spring. In addition to an initial $50,000 donation by each player, Barrett will donate $10,000 for every homerun he hits, while Dempster will give $1,000 for every save.
"Everybody here knows, and everybody who's involved knows what a tremendous cause it is, and hopefully one day we can find a cure," Dempster said afterconverting his seventh save of the season. "I'm just out there trying to do my part and get a little more money for that pot."
Fans could also "Play for LCA" and donate money to Project 3000 based on Barrett's home run total and/or the number of Dempster's saves.
Stone, who also was honored in the pregame ceremony, was more than pleased with the promotional activities and fan reaction at the game.
"Most of the patients that come to see me have been told at least once, if not several times before I've seen them, something equivalent to, 'I'm sorry,there's nothing we can do,'" Stone said. "If you stand around this table and look around, you don't get the 'There's nothing you can do' feeling. You seeall these people walking up to this booth and putting on a wrist band, there is something you can do.
"For those of us that have been working on inherited eye diseases for a long time, to have this degree of energy injected into the process is an extremelyexciting thing for us," Stone said.
The Cubs' Minor League affiliates are also helping raise money and awareness for LCA. As part of Project 3000 Night on May 12, the Iowa Cubs Foundationwill donate $1,000 for every home run hit by an Iowa Cub during the game and $100 for every strikeout recorded that evening.
There will also be a silent auction held at the game, where fans will be able to bid on jerseys, baseballs and bats signed by Lee, Carlos Zambrano, AlfonsoSoriano and Ryne Sandberg, as well as other current Chicago and Iowa Cubs players. All of the proceeds will go to Project 3000.
"In order for us to achieve our goal of curing this disease, it is going to have to be a societal-based effort," Stone said. "It isn't going to be one singlebreakthrough. It's going to be constant effort with optimistic people believing this can be overcome and just not willing to take no for an answer."
For more information about supporting Project 3000, visit http://www.helpproject3000.org
For information about genetic testing for people with LCA, visit http://www.carverlab.org/project3000
For information about Lee's 1st Touch Foundation, visit http://www.1sttouch.org




Marc Zarefsky is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.