Dine Out to Help Fight Ovarian and Other Cancers, SU2C and Mastercard Urge

Foes while in opposing dugouts, two Major League Baseball (MLB) managers are teaming up with Mastercard and Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) to battle malignancies such as ovarian cancer.

Alex Cora and Dave Roberts, All-Star skippers of the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively, are uniting to encourage people to dine out — alone or with others — and pay using Mastercard. In turn, the global payments company will donate up to $4 million to SU2C for cancer research. The effort is called “Make Some Time and Start Something Priceless.”

Through Aug. 15, Mastercard will donate one cent for every meal purchased for at least $10 from qualifying merchants in the United States or Canada. If a payment is made through a contactless transaction, Mastercard will donate two cents. The “meal” could be as simple as coffee shop beverages and ballpark hotdogs.

“The unfortunate reality is that one in three Americans will face cancer in their lifetime, which is why the groundbreaking work Stand Up To Cancer is doing to bring new therapies to patients quickly is so vital,” Cora said a news release. “It’s great to see companies like Mastercard committed to supporting this critical cause. By making it as simple as dining out, together we can all help further SU2C’s mission to make every cancer patient a long-term survivor.”

The Mastercard-sponsored MLB All-Star game on July 9 featured an SU2C tribute to past and present cancer patients. Mastercard has donated more than $45 million to SU2C over the past 10 years through this partnership program.

According to the release, SU2C-funded investigations have led to federal approval of six cancer therapies, including treatments for ovarian, breast and pancreatic cancers, and some particularly challenging leukemias. The American Cancer Society anticipates that about 22,530 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year.

”We all have those plans we put off or that person we keep meaning to get together with, but life gets in the way,” said Cheryl Guerin, executive vice president, marketing and communications, for Mastercard. “With our dining campaign, we are encouraging cardholders to Start Something Priceless by supporting a powerful cause with an everyday activity they already enjoy — dining out. By doing so, they can help us continue to drive donations and further the impact SU2C can make in putting an end to this disease.”

Added Rusty Robertson, co-founder of Stand Up To Cancer: “The simple act of friends and families taking the time to get together to dine out has provided millions of dollars in critical funding to support our mission to make everyone diagnosed with cancer a survivor.”

With the goal of finding cancer treatments and cures, SU2C funds collaborative, multidisciplinary, and multi-institutional scientific research teams and investigators.