Oct. 20, 2005

ANNAPOLIS, Md.-Several members of the Navy football team will visit the Texas Children's Hospital on Friday afternoon in Houston. After a short workout at Owl stadium members of the team will join players from Rice for the visit as part of the Navy's "Caps For Kids" program.

In 1994, Dr. Stephen Heinrich, of Children's Hospital in New Orleans, LA, founded an international non-profit organization dedicated to giving hats and scarves signed by athletes, entertainers and other notable personalities to children, adolescents and young adults with cancer. In 1998, the Navy Office of Information Southwest, took a wonderful program and adapted it with a "Navy" flavor into an ever-growing and outreaching program. Today, more than 500 commands, including ships, submarines, squadrons and Navy personnel have donated ball caps and other Navy memorabilia along with their time and energy to help bring a smile to faces of young patients in hospitals all over the country.

In support of "Caps for Kids", NAVCO helps operational commands reach kids in hospitals throughout the nation. This is done by receiving ball caps from commands and ensuring they get personally delivered in non-Navy areas or by helping commands to establish a relationship with their local hospital.