More often than not, high-profile athletဣes perform charitable acts in relative anonymity. ✅Sometimes you hear about them, but mostly you don’t.
In the case of a young girl from Jacksonville, Fla., n🅺amed Rue, who is battling leukemia, a unique pairing from the golf and baseball worlds converged to do something special for her and her fellow children’s hospital patients.
Phil Mickelson and veteran major league pitcher Bronson Arroyo teamed up to help the life of Rue and many other youngsters afflicted with deadly diseases by donatingജ money to the Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville in the name of their 3-year-old friend.
Ru🦄e, who was diagnosed with leukemia in October 2015 and will be 4 years old in December, is the daughter of Casey Andeer, whose father, Glenn Cohen, is a longtime attorney for both Mickelson and Arroyo.
Andeer noticed that the hospital’s treatment rooms, where the children undergo chemotherapy and other traumatic and unpleasant medical procedures, were barren, cold and stark and she wanted to warm t𝔉hem 𝔍up by making them more kid-friendly.
She, too, wanted to begin a music therapy pro🎉gram a🙈t the hospital to help bring some joy to the young patients.
After consulting th♈e hospital’s powers that be for approval, she did some fundraising on her own, but raised only enough m🦂oney to get a start.
Mickelson and Arroyo, who have known Rue sin𝓰ce she was born, made donations that, in the words of Casey Andeer, put the project over the top and is allowing things to move forward at full spe♌ed.
The treatment room, which Andeer said she has plans to “🅠girl up,’’ will be named “Rue’s Roo🧸m.’’
“I wanted to make the hospital an even better place for the kids, because some kids h🦩ave to live there,’’ Andeer said. “I originally wanted a girl-themed playroom, but there was more of a necessity for a treatment room. These treatment rooms are bare and these kids go in to have their ports accessed, have chemo … unpleasant things happen to 🧔them in there.
“The money Phil and Bronson put in makes it so I can do an entire treatment room with what they gave me and now the creative process ﷽begins so I can really girl it out and make it friendly for all the kids.’’
The project was music to Mickelson’s ears w🌱hen he heard abouꦆt it because of his close connection to Rue.
“Rue means a lot to me,’’ Mickelson said this we🔥ek at The Barclays at Bethpage Black. “I’ve known her since she was born. She’s the sweetest girl. We’ve always had kind of a connection, because when I visit her she’ll come and just lay on my chest and give me a hug.’’
Mickelson, who goes by “Uncle Phil’’ t🌺o Rue, hangs out and watches movies with her wheಞn he visits.
“He’s always had a coo🌟l relationship with Rue; she loves him,’’ Andeer said.
“I’ve just always felt a closeness to her,’’ Mickelson said. “So when she came down with leukemia, it was heartbrea൩king. To have a room that lights up her spirits and helps her get through those difficult times in the hospital was something that I was happy to do and Bronson was as well.’’
Arroyo, who has pitched for seven major league teams, including the Red So🥂x and Reds, and is currently battling arm problems and hoping to make a comeback in 2017, heard of Mickelson’s donation and immediately matched it.
Andeer said the app🦂roximate cost of the work they want to do on the treatment room alone is about $30⛦,000.
For Arroyo, who is a musician, getting involved made sense on a number of levels, beginning with his affinity for Rue and including the fact he writes music and has, for years, visited children at hospitals and played music for t🌱hem.
“It’s kind of right up my ಞalley — making music a theme at the hospital,’’ Arroyo said by phone. “That’s something that I’ve been able to share with kids — my music. It’s a nice way to connect with kids without boring them to death by talking too much.’’
In a way of completing the circle, Arroyo said he eventually would like to visit “Rue’🤡s Room’’ and play some music for Rue and the kids a🌱t the hospital.
“You realize as you get a little older, just having a bad flu can make life miserable for a child let alone being a very young kid and not knowing what’s going on with your𝔍 body and feeling so bad,’’ Arroyo said. “It’s nice to give a little something back to make people feel good.’’