By Shannon Drayer

Just three miles from Safeco Field some of the world's top doctors and scientists work day-in and day-out to try and find a cure for cancer and other life threatening illnesses at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The FHCRC has a unique tie to baseball in that it is named after a pitcher and manager who succumbed to cancer in 1964 at the age of 45, just one year after being diagnosed.

Each year the Hutch Award is given to the player who best exemplifies the honor, courage and dedication of the late Fred Hutchinson. The award is given at the Hutch Luncheon, an annual event which to date has raised over $2.9 million for cancer research.

Billy Butler of the Kansas City Royals is this year's recipient. Billy and his wife Katie started the Hit-It-A-Ton campaign to help feed disadvantaged families in the Kansas City area. For each home run or double he hits a ton or half ton of food is donated. To date the program has provided more than 960 tons of food to needy KC area residents.

In addition to the lunch, Billy and Katie visited a lab at the FHCRC and the Hutch School, a unique K-12 accredited school that serves family members of cancer patients.

At the school Butler and his wife visited with about 20 children. Billy told his story and answered questions for the kids, who were thrilled to meet a big league player.

Preston, 9, and Bryson, 8, were two of the kids who took part in today's activity. Both have younger brothers who are battling cancer and receiving treatment through the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. For them the school provides a bit of normalcy in what is a very difficult time for families.

"I am really excited that I got to meet him," said Preston, who is from Kirkland.

"I think it is neat that he is from Florida and his wife is from Idaho because I have a military family and we have lived in Florida and now I live in Idaho," said Bryson.

Bryson has been attending the school on and off for two years and recently has received the news that he will get to go home in two months.

"I am sad that I have to leave but I am happy my brother is not sick anymore," he said. "Seattle is my home."

What he likes the best about the school is that there is no bullying. He looks forward to coming every day, even in the summer. He also likes seeing his friend Preston, someone that he has a unique bond with.

"It's helpful to have a friend who is going through the same thing," said Preston. "My younger brother, who is three has kidney cancer. Me and my sister have been going through a lot but I have been hanging in there."

The school has helped.

"We get to go to fun places and hang out and play," Preston said. "This is a better school than my other school."

Meeting with the children was a warmup for a bigger audience that was waiting at Safeco Field. To be accurate, on the field. The lunch is held in the outfield and there was a huge crowd on hand to participate in the auction and hear Butler and the keynote speaker, Cal Ripken Jr.

Butler told the audience he was very uncomfortable speaking to a crowd. He said it was tough for him, but not quite as tough as facing Felix Hernandez on the same field.

He took a rather curious item to the podium with him. A can of corn. Of course "can of corn" is a baseball term but the can had a different significance to him.

"I have learned from my charity back in Kansas City that there are many people who cannot afford to buy even a can of corn," he said. "My family has been very blessed, and Katie and I feel very strongly that we teach our daughter to give back."

Ripken followed Butler on the stage and received a warm welcome from the crowd. Earlier in the day he spoke of the importance of giving back, something that he said is not hard to do despite the busy schedule many athletes have.

"There are many opportunities to use the platform that baseball provides you to do good work in the community," he said. "I always thought, and this came from my mom, that you do use your fame or celebrity in order to shine the light on something that needs to have the light shine on it and it is a powerful tool if used the right way."

Many baseball players are using that platform. Butler is the 46th player to receive the honor since the award was first given to Mickey Mantle in 1965. He said that he was inspired by former Royals teammate Mike Sweeney. With any luck he will inspire others in his clubhouse to give back as well.