The Yankees continued their eighth annual HOPE Week (Helping Others Persevere & Excel) on Tuesday, June 7, by recognizing Cleaning for a Reason.
In 2006, Debbie Sardone founded Cleaning for a Reason, an organization designed to ease the burdens of women undergoing treatment for any kind of cancer by offering complimentary monthly house cleanings to allow those patients to focus on their health.
Since its founding, the Lewisville, Texas-based organization has helped over 20,000 cancer patients through the help of more than 1,200 professional cleaning companies across the United States and parts of Canada.
Each cleaning service volunteers its time and staff to clean two homes per month, free of cost. Once matched with a local cleaning service, each patient is eligible to have her house cleaned once a month for up to four months while she is going through treatment.
On Tuesday, Yankees Manager Joe Girardi and his daughter Lena, players Carlos Beltran, Starlin Castro and Jacoby Ellsbury and Cleaning for a Reason founder, Debbie Sardone, surprised a woman with cancer (Marybell Ruiz) at her home and assisted a volunteer cleaner from Spotless Services with the cleaning of Marybell’s apartment. After they finished cleaning, the group enjoyed lunch before returning to Yankee Stadium.
Prior to Tuesday night’s game vs. the Angels, Debbie Sardone and Marybell Ruiz threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
After initially arriving at the apartment and surprising Marybell — Joe and Lena Girardi, along with Marybell then went over to the school that Marybell’s children attend and surprised them (Masiah, 12, and Amaya, 9). When the children arrived back at the apartment, they were surprised by the players.
