SEATTLE -- For 20 years, Rick Rizzs worked with Dave Henderson to distribute gifts to homeless and sick children in the Seattle area through their Toys For Kids program, a charity that grew from a grassroots effort among a handful of Mariners players to a robust service that now brings a little Christmas cheer to thousands around the Puget Sound area.
But while the program is still going strong -- reaching a record number of dollars raised and toys and cash distributed to needy families this winter -- one thing is missing this year: Henderson, who died of a heart attack two days after last Christmas at the age of 57.