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A week after Mickey Mantle
received a liver transplant on June 8,
1995, he wanted to establish a
foundation to provide awareness of the
need for organ donors. He felt a great
responsibility for having a second
opportunity at life. He said "You know
I've got to give something back. I
thank God had a purpose for letting me
have this extra time. Lets get a team
of people together and see what we can
do." Mickey's Team was born. Mantle's
last wish, a new "Organ Donor" trading
card was unveiled days after Mantles
passing in August.
One million cards were handed out to fans attending Major League games
over the Labor Day weekend. The cards
feature a picture of Mickey Mantle and
a facsimile autograph after a personal
massage from the Yankee great. The
first run of cards are dated "August
1995" above the card perforation. The
card with the number "7 Mickey Mantle
Foundation Mickey's Team logo; has
Baylor University Medical Center, organ
donor recipient information, MVP Award
statistics, and Hall Of Fame induction.
Olympic Sprint champion Carl Lewis
wanted to be part of "Mickey's team"
and presented a $25.000 check from the
Wendy Marx foundation, which he
co-founded in 1989 after a close friend
received a liver transplant that save
her life. A donor organ trading card
with Lewis' picture and facsimile
autograph was printed and distributed
by the Mickey Mantle Foundation in
1996. All Mickey Mantle Donor cards
printed in 1996 or later are not dated,
and have a different back than the 1995
cards.
The August, 1995 cards have two different backs. One was printed for the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania department
of Health, and was added at the top. By
June of 1996 The Mickey Mantle
Foundation sent out more than 4 million
donor cards, to unions, organizations,
and through the mail. Mickey Mantle or
Carl Lewis donor cards, were made
available by sending a long, self
addressed , stamped envelope to: The
Mickey Mantle Foundation, 8080 N.
Central Expressway, Suite 800, Dallas,
Texas 75206.
The cards came with a welcome to "Mickey's Team" letter which had a slogan
that Mickey Mantle cane up with; "Be a
Hero, Be A Donor" on the letter head. Mickey Mantle was proud of the Foundation which was to promote
awareness for the need of organ and tissue donation.
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