For the past four years, a charitable event in Fargo has been building community across generations while also touching the lives of cancer patients and their families throughout the Fargo region.
Held each June, Roger Maris All-Star Week celebrates the life and legacy of hometown hero and baseball legend Roger Maris through a series of fun events which raise support and awareness for the Sanford Roger Maris Cancer Center.
The week is made possible each year thanks in large part to the generosity of the Maris family.
“
“We started the Roger Maris Celebrity Golf Tournament here in Fargo 40 years ago. Dad thought it was a great idea. We love it here. We love the people here. Eventually, we saw that we could do so much more.”
From this year’s 40th annual Roger Maris Celebrity Golf Tournament — which featured special guests like former NFL greats Cris Carter, Chad Greenway and Cordell Volson, as well as former MLB star Steve Garvey—to the Home Run Derby and more, this year’s All-Star Week offered something for everyone, including local kids.
| WATCH STORY: Visit from famous football players at the Roger Maris Cancer Center
| WATCH STORY: Roger Maris Jr. talks about Roger Maris All-star Week
| WATCH STORY: Roger Maris Academy for Kids
Through All-Star Week’s Youth Sports Clinics, hundreds of local kids not only had a chance to have fun and build skills in everything from football, to baseball, to pickelball, volleyball and more — they also learned about the characteristics that make someone a Roger Maris All-Star — preparation, hard work, competiveness and being a team player.
“Over the years, we’ve loved hearing Roger Maris Jr. talk about these characteristics and how they’re important not just in sports, but in life. They are words that have guided and shaped the Maris family over many years,” said Tiffany Lawrence, president of Sanford Health, Fargo. “They are also traits that define the work we do at the Sanford Roger Maris Cancer Center.”
“This is a place where some of the brightest minds in medicine come to work every day prepared to work hard, as a team, to fight for those with cancer. And, they strive for nothing less than the best — the best results, the best outcomes, the best experiences for our patients and families,” she said.
“So we are beyond grateful for the generosity of the Maris family, and our entire community, for supporting Roger Maris All-Star Week, which in turn supports the Sanford Roger Maris Cancer Center,” Lawrence said.
Support the Future of Cancer Care
Year after year, increasing numbers of men, women and children across our region are turning to the Sanford Roger Maris Cancer Center in Fargo for the most advanced cancer care and treatment options, including allogenic bone marrow transplants and cutting-edge CAR-T cell immunotherapy offered through North Dakota’s only Blood and Bone Marrow Transplant Program.
Since the Sanford Roger Maris Cancer Center opened in 1990, its lifesaving mission has not changed, but cancer treatment and the needs of our patients have. Last year alone, our Nurse Navigators welcomed 4,004 new cancer patients to our care teams and today, we are treating nearly 400 children with pediatric cancers.
Give for Good
With your help, we can push the boundaries of what’s possible to bring comfort, hope and health to even more cancer patients and their families. Give now to make a difference for patients at the Sanford Roger Maris Cancer Center today, and for years to come.