Showing Up For Shannon
He was hurt badly in a bull riding accident at a high school rodeo in Willits, and he later died of his injuries.
While he was at UCSF, our founder walked into his hospital room one afternoon and found the bed made and the room empty. It was terrifying for a moment. Then a doctor explained where he had gone: he was down the hall on the children's floor, reading books to the kids.
One
One of them was a little girl born without a stomach, who would never leave the hospital, and whose parents had visited twice. Shannon could not understand it. How could somebody leave a child behind?
That question became this organization. Showing Up For Shannon exists for the kids, because carrying on what he did is how his brother learned to carry the loss.
No child left behind.
If they don't have money, it doesn't matter. We bring them in and we get them where they need to be.
Two — what we actually do
Showing Up For Shannon runs youth baseball and youth softball in Ukiah and Redwood Valley. We are a California nonprofit public benefit corporation, run by a volunteer board of twenty.
Cost is not a reason a kid sits out. If a family cannot cover fees, gear, or travel, we find a way. That is not a program we run on the side — it is the reason the organization exists.
01
Baseball
Young Bucks is where most families meet us. Practices are local, coaches are volunteers from the community, and the emphasis is on kids getting real reps and real instruction rather than sitting a bench.
More about Young Bucks
02
Softball
Young Doe's runs alongside Young Bucks with its own directors, its own teams and its own identity. Same coaching philosophy, same rule about cost, same season structure.
More about Young Doe's
Three — where it stands
Every one of those kids is playing because an adult in this county decided it mattered.
Four
Registration covers a fraction of what a season costs. The rest is sponsors, donors, and a board that takes nothing. When a family cannot pay, the scholarship fund covers it quietly and the team never knows which kids it covered.