"The Phillies Phestival is a fun-filled autograph and auction party for all ages which is held annually with the goal to strike out ALS, the devastating neuromuscular condition for which there is no known cause or cure. Since 1984, the Phillies have raised over $14.3 million for The ALS Association, Greater Philadelphia Chapter's patient services and research."
This year, the 30th Anniversary Phestival took place on May 19th, 2014 and raised $904,732 for ALS through ticket sales, autograph auctions, as well as games and prizes won throughout the phestival itself, and of course donations! All the ballgirls volunteered at the phestival and it was one of the more rewarding events I have worked this year.
I was assigned to work the "Every Roll's a Winner" game along the main concourse that day. Here, a phestival goer can pay for the number of rolls they get, and every roll wins a prize from our list of give-away items this year. They had 5 die to roll at once, and the total rolled would equal any prize from 5 to 30. I would then run and get a prize from the back and give it to the winner. So many fans and members of the community came out to support our organization and an even greater cause. There were adults, kids, grandparents, and even those who suffer from this horrible disease themselves, but everyone had a smile on their face and the sense of community was something you couldn't miss. I was working side by side with members of the front office and more recognizable members of the organization, like our VP, as well as Tom McCarthy and Gregg Murphy! The Phanatic even made an appearance on the quad!
Afterwards, employees who volunteered to work the event were invited for dinner down in the diamond club. It was very nice to see everyone in the organization volunteering their time to raise money and awareness for a terrible cause. We all sat down and talked about what a nice day it was and how next year could only be better! I talked to members of Phanavision and the offices as well, since it's very rare you get us all in the same spot at once; it's a pretty big ballpark!
