CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Jack Callahan was three years old when he was diagnosed with metastatic cancer. Fourteen months of treatment at the University of Virginia, near his family’s home, and in Philadelphia followed.

Now, seven years later, Jack is a healthy 10-year-old with a healthy love for baseball.

“He told me his plan was to be in the majors, but if that didn’t work out, he’d be a minor league player,” Jack’s mother, Emily Callahan, told Cville Right Now. “He loves baseball.”

Wednesday afternoon, Jack Callahan and 11 other children who battled critical illness, got the chance to spend some time with the UVA baseball team, part of an event put on by the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Virginia and Cav Futures. 

The children and their families visited Disharoon Park, spent time on the field with the Cavaliers players and coaches, then hung out with them in the stadium’s club, eating pizza and doing some arts-and-crafts projects. First-year coach Chris Pollard gave each child a baseball. 

“It’s just a day of joy and a reminder to find moments every day to find joy with one another,” Emily Callahan said. “Because there were a lot of times during our journey, when he was ill, that it was hard to find those.”

All the children on hand at UVA on Wednesday had already had wishes granted by the foundation. Jack and his family went to Disney. 

Val Piper’s 9-year-old son, Noah, got the chance to be Spider-Man on a special playground the foundation built him. Noah was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at the base of his skull when he was 3. 

He underwent two years of treatment at UVA and is now healthy. But the connection with the Make-A-Wish community continues with events like Wednesday’s.

“It’s an opportunity to connect with other families and for kids to be with other kids who have gone through hard things,” Val Piper told Cville Right Now. “But it’s also the connection with UVA and the players, hearing an inspiring coach speak. It’s just so meaningful.”

The collaboration between Make-A-Wish and Cav Futures began last year, when they worked together on an event bringing Wish kids together with the men’s and women’s basketball team.

“It really all stems from Cav Futures and their vision to really ensure that these student athletes have the opportunity to engage with their local community and help them make a difference,” Rachael Schrinel, the president and CEO of Make-A-Wish of Greater Virginia, told Cville Right Now. “And Coach Pollard has really wrapped his arms around our mission and really allowed us to come out today and work together to bring our families together and help them have some joyful, childlike fun with the team.”

Pollard, who did similar events with the Miracle League of the Triangle during his 13 seasons at Duke, said he jumped at the opportunity to host the families Wednesday and work with the Make A Wish Foundation.

“For years and years and years I’ve seen all these incredible things that they’ve done. When Cav Futures came to me and said, ‘We have this partnership. Would you be interested in one of these events?’ it was such a no-brainer,” Pollard told Cville Right Now. “It’s something we want to do more and more. This community is so important to me, the central Virginia community. But I want our players to know there are things that are bigger than baseball. There are things that are bigger than this world that we sometimes get really focused on.”

Pollard’s team is 14-3 this season, and took a big ACC series at North Carolina last weekend, 2-1. Tuesday, the Cavaliers edged William & Mary 9-7, and this weekend they host rival Virginia Tech.

But pitcher Kevin Jaxel told Cville Right Now that Wednesday’s event was something the whole team was happy to take part in, not a burden or a disruption.

“We get smiles and joy. It’s a really good thing for perspective,” Jaxel said. “Nobody felt like this was something they had to do. This was something everybody was looking forward to doing.” 

Lo Davis, executive director at Cav Futures, said the organization hopes to expand the number of events it puts on. 

“This is just the beginning,” Davis told Cville Right Now. “We want to look at doing more events with Make-A-Wish, with more teams. But also maybe creating our own type of programming that can get the local community involved as well.”

And UVA baseball’s involvement with the Make-A-Wish families didn’t start and end with this event. Pollard said about 50 families, including those in attendance Wednesday, have been invited to attend the team’s April 18 game against Clemson. And the coach is hoping they can all come on the field to throw out ceremonial first pitches.