Paul Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ two-time All-Star pitcher, fresh off winning his first NL Cy Young Award stepped up to serve veterans at a Raising Cane’s in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Skenes recently teamed up with the fast food restaurant chain for its Veterans Day campaign, which raised $500,000 for the Gary Sinise Foundation – a nonprofit that supports America’s veterans, first responders, and their families.
During the event on Thursday, Skenes took a break from his “shift” serving veterans Box Combos from the front counter and the drive-thru to accept the $500,000 check on behalf of the foundation.
“This partnership is special. Cane’s is a household name so for them to be willing to partner with the Gary Sinise Foundation is very selfless,” Skenes said at a press conference ahead of his 'shift.' “If you really think about it, baseball is pretty low on the totem pole of things that matter in this world. It’s really easy to get wrapped up in the game, but the highs and the lows in baseball aren’t adversity, definitely not to the extent that the men and women who fight for our country face adversity, so it really puts things in perspective.”
Skenes said the money that was raised will go directly to helping veterans, “from building houses to putting on events for veterans and their kids, fallen soldiers and airmen. The Gary Sinise Foundation is a great foundation to partner with because the way they use their money very directly helps people.”
Skenes, who began his collegiate career pitching at the Air Force Academy, is a long-time supporter of the foundation. During this year’s season, he made it a personal mission to donate $100 to the Gary Sinise Foundation for every strikeout he recorded, which ended up totaling 216.
“The Air Force Academy and the military as a whole is built around a few key concepts and core ideas, and I think one of them is ‘how you do everything is how you do anything,’” Skenes said. “If you live your life doing things the right way, which is what the Academy and military teaches you, you’re going to be set in whatever you do. So, I went to the Air Force Academy for a reason.
"Not anyone can go there, so you start with a pretty high bar of the individuals that are there and you get there and it’s an environment that’s made to make everybody there better. So, the two years I spent there I got better as a person and as a baseball player.”
Skenes, who finished his college days at LSU, shares Baton Rouge roots with Raising Cane’s, which opened its first restaurant just across from LSU’s North Gates. After leading the Tigers to the 2023 College World Series title, Skenes joined teammates and head coach Jay Johnson for a celebratory “shift” at The Mothership – Cane’s first restaurant– and later starred in a Cane’s NIL campaign.
“It’s an honor to host these veterans in our restaurant and have the opportunity to donate $500,000 to such a great cause,” Raising Cane's owner and founder Todd Graves said.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.