Making money by giving it away: that is part of the plan for the largest corporate sponsors at the All-Star Game in St. Louis this year. State Farm, Bank of America, Pepsi and other sponsors have increased the money they plan to give to charities at this year’s event. For each hit in the game, Bank of America will donate $5,000 to Feeding America, which runs a national network of food banks. State Farm expects to exceed the $370,000 it gave to the Boys and Girls Clubs at the Home Run Derby it sponsored last year. Pepsi helped pay for a free concert by Sheryl Crow on Saturday that raised money for Stand Up to Cancer, a research group. The companies want to appear sensitive to the economic challenges fans face and deflect criticism of corporate sports sponsorship. (7/14/09)
