La Crescenta resident wins Kansas City Royals ‘dream’ experience
A La Crescenta woman’s $10 donation to a charity turned into an “unreal” opportunity to reconnect with her family’s Missouri roots via the baseball field at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
Megan Henley — originally from Columbia, Mo., but a La Crescenta resident for eight months now — is a self-proclaimed die-hard Kansas City Royals fan. Her late father was raised in Kansas City and passed his love for the baseball team down to Henley.
For the record:
10:32 p.m. May 11, 2024A previous version of this story referred to Omaze as a Big Slick co-host. Omaze is a fundraising partner.
The charity Big Slick was founded by comedian Rob Riggle and fellow actors Paul Rudd and Jason Sudeikis, who host the annual Big Slick weekend as a way to raise money for the cancer center at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. This year the charity partnered with Omaze to help raise additional funds through a raffle contest.
Henley said she saw the Omaze campaign on Facebook for a chance to attend the June 23 Royals game and thought it was a way she could give back and also win a chance to revisit her home state.
Eventually, Omaze set up an interview with Henley via Skype that ended with the reveal that she had been randomly selected and won the raffle. She told the organizers what it would mean for her to be on the Kauffman field, especially since her father passed away in 2013.
“I completely lost it because it really meant a lot, and the weekend was amazing,” Henley said. “It was really, truly an honor.”
Henley and her brother were flown out to stay in Kansas City and invited to play in a celebrity softball game alongside Riggle, Rudd and Sudeikis. She played on a team with actors Eric Stonestreet and David Koechner and managed to make a hit.
Afterward, she watched the Royals’ 5-4 comeback victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
“Just being on the field, it was like a dream come true,” she said. “I’m really grateful for the experience.”
Henley was also able to visit her grandparents who still live in Kansas City and took her grandfather to a batting cage to help warm up for the softball game.
Big Slick announced it raised a record-breaking $1.7 million this past weekend and has now collected more than $6 million to benefit Children’s Mercy Hospital since the annual fundraiser started in 2010, according to organization officials.
Henley said she plans to buy tickets for an upcoming game between the Royals and the Los Angeles Dodgers next month.
Twitter: @JeffLanda
