Mother’s death leads brothers to raise funds for cancer research

CLUTCH PLAY—Susan Sappington, left, and Dana Dornsife, executives with Lazarex Cancer Foundation, receive a donation presented by Delmon Young and his father, Larry Young, before a Major League Baseball game last season between the Twins and the Oakland A’s at the Oracle Arena in Oakland. In conjunction with the Twins organization, the Young family—including older brother, Dmitri—made the donation to the California-based cancer foundation in honor of Bonnie Young, who died last year of cancer. Delmon and Dmitri Young each reacted differently to the death of their mother, Bonnie, from pancreatic cancer last spring.

Delmon, 25, dealt with his emotions privately and even now rarely chooses to talk about it, said his father, Larry.

Older brother, Dmitri, 36, is able to open up and express what he’s feeling inside.

“He’s been more outgoing,” Larry said. “He’s emotional and he’ll cry right there in front of the whole world. He’ll express himself. He and Delmon are two opposites.”

Delmon and Dmitri, both professional baseball players from Camarillo, are joining other baseball players and coaches from the area to honor their mother and raise funds to help those fighting the impact of cancer. Delmon plays for the Minnesota Twins, while Dmitri spent much of last season on the disabled list with the Washington Nationals.

The two Young brothers, both first-round draft picks, will headline a baseball clinic on Sun., Jan. 10 at the Camarillo PONY Baseball Field, 1030 Temple Ave. All proceeds will go to the Lazarex Cancer Foundation, which provides funds for cancer victims who are in the later stages of treatment and allows them to participate in clinical trials.

The baseball clinic, hosted by Camarillo PONY Baseball and Roger Frash, an assistant coach at Oxnard College, will feature a who’s who of area baseball talent.

Camarillo High graduates Brad Boyer, a minor leaguer with the San Francisco Giants, and Erik Komatsu, part of the Milwaukee Brewers, will be there along with Cincinnati Reds hitting coach Brook Jacoby, former Dodger Brent Cookson and former Florida Marlins pitcher Kip Vaughn, among others.

Boyer says helping teach young baseball players takes him back to when he was learning from Joe Borchard, a Camarillo High graduate who was a Chicago White Sox first-round draft choice in 2000.

“These little kids are in awe,” Boyer said. “It takes you away ’cause you think about it for a moment. You’re like, wow, when I was young that was me looking up when I was at camps, looking up to these older guys giving me little pointers.”

The real all-star

For Delmon and Dmitri, though, the tournament’s true allstar is their mom, Bonnie Young.

She’d been set to go to the Philippines and participate in a trial featuring the drug Rexin-G, which aims to shrink metastatic tumors.

“(Lazarex) made a last-ditch effort to try to get her over there, but she died within a week (on May 18),” Larry said. “But they (had) stepped forward and helped arrange a plane ticket, arranged a place to live over there.

“For that reason, I felt I wanted to help that foundation (help) other people who can’t afford to travel like that.”

The story behind Lazarex

Dana Dornsife founded Lazarex, now a nonprofit organization, in 2006. She’d become an advocate for cancer patients after her brother-in-law, Mike Miller, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003.

Miller’s family was able to find a clinical trial that helped extend his life, allowing him to spend more time with his family, including three children.

Dornsife made it her goal to provide more options for cancer patients and provide financial assistance to those who can’t afford treatment.

“In a clinical trial, the drug sponsor actually pays for the medicine itself, so they’re not charging for the medicine,” Dornsife said, “but it’s all of the diagnostics and the travel and the doctors’ fees and all of the extra things that go along with it—that specifically are not covered by insurance—that prevent people from being able to take advantage of cutting-edge technology.”

Dornsife estimates Lazarex has helped around 85 people over the past three years. This year marked the first time Lazarex has crossed the million-dollar threshold in funding, with a total of about $2.5 million raised since the foundation’s creation, Dornsife said.

It’s a balancing act, she said, between “outreach to the medical community to make them aware of Lazarex Cancer Foundation as a resource for their patients and the amount of fundraising that we’re doing.

“We raise a little bit of money, we do a little more outreach,” Dornsife said.

That’s where Delmon and Dmitri come in. With a platform as professional baseball players, they’ve made a commitment to help others affected by cancer.

The Young family’s

very personal donation

Although stories of cancer victims are in the media every day, it wasn’t until Larry Young was personally affected that he saw what he could do to help others.

He’s tried talking with Delmon about Bonnie. He’ll bring up positive memories and funny things she used to do. Larry said he can get a smile out of his son, and maybe a laugh, but then Delmon shuts down.

“Delmon and his mom were extremely close,” Larry said. “They talked all the time. Delmon spent a lot of time with her before she got sick. They would sit there and talk for hours. He has some more trouble communicating about it.”

Soon after Bonnie’s death, Delmon helped raise $32,000 with help from his Minnesota Twins teammates. Delmon, Dmitri and Larry presented the check to Lazarex in June before a game between the Twins and host Oakland Athletics.

“Everybody reacts to their own personal situations in their own way, but there are people who just decide that they want to make a difference and they know they can make a difference,” Dornsife said.

For details about the baseball clinic, visit the website www.cpba.org. Clinic hours are from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Registration is $40 a player, with all proceeds going to Lazarex.