Where Have You Gone, Number Fifty-One?

"You'll look around for Willie McGee one day, and he won't be around."
---Willie McGee

The prognostication that Willie McGee made late in his career about a quiet disappearance from baseball ended up not quite coming true.  But eight years later, the same unfortunately cannot be said about his charitable foundation.

The 1999 season was Willie's last with the St. Louis Cardinals, and he was sent out with a standing ovation every time he came to the plate.  Five years later, he founded a charitable organization that helped gave scholarships and other financial support to students in the Oakland, California area.

My first exposure to the Willie McGee Foundation was in 2004, when Jarvis Brown, McGee's best friend and the president of the organization, gave me a call.  Their website was just about to launch, and Jarvis, who had seen some pictures on the WillieMcGee site I developed, called to see if I had any more.  The most surreal part of the call came when Jarvis told me about the group's kickoff event, which was to include VIPs from the San Francisco area and from the baseball world.  "City councilman so-and-so is coming, and mayor whatshisname, and, oh yeah, Ozzie's coming."  Just like that, as casually as you might mention that Uncle Steve is joining us for cards this weekend, he mentioned the anticipated arrival of the most exciting baseball player I've ever seen.

I considered donating to the Willie McGee Foundation a few times in the years after that phone conversation.  I checked in on the website fairly regularly, proud to see that Willie was still giving back to some promising students and athletes in his home area.  But a few weeks ago, when I pulled up the site, it wasn't there anymore.  I can't even find a mention of what happened to the foundation or why it disappeared.

This is just a reminder that there's never a bad time to give money to a charity that you care about.  There are always plenty of worthy and needy organizations, especially at this time of year, but that shouldn't be an impediment to giving to the ones you feel are most deserving.