"Don't Miss the Magic" providing inspiration for those battling disease

UPDATE: The Orioles have extended the charitable component from "Don't Miss the Magic" to run through the end of the post season. Every online stream, download, and share will will be accompanied by a $5 donation by the Orioles Charitable Foundation to Shannon's Fund.

LISTEN HERE: Don't Miss the Magic (Soundcloud)

We're still a few weeks away from the end of the regular season.

Orioles fans are hoping the season isn't over for quite a while, of course. But even with the playoff picture still unsettled, it's a year that's seen the Birds clinch their fourth winning season in the last five years, another installment of Orioles Magic.

Now, the team has a song that perfectly encapsulates the Orioles' 2016 season, fittingly co-written and performed by one of the team's biggest supporters.

Back in July, singer/songwriter Jenae Cherry debuted her Orioles-inspired song "Don't Miss the Magic" prior to a game at Camden Yards. It's a song that mixes a little of the Orioles' historic past, combined with the success of the present and the promise of the future.

Cherry is the wife of Orioles All-Star reliever Brad Brach, who has enjoyed a stellar season, and helped put the Birds on the brink of their third trip to the postseason in five years. But as Cherry tells it, "Don't Miss the Magic" was a song that started way back in the early days of the season.

"We actually wrote the song during the first or second week of April when the Orioles were (7-0) and we were like 'this team is cool, this team is different,' especially to see my husband be part of it," Cherry said. "These guys are family and friends of ours now and the way the seaosn's going we're so hopeful and the song means so much more now. 'Don't Miss the Magic,' that type of thing, it's so cool to see it on the Jumbotron and as I'm watching my husband do his job, it's very cool."

Yet while Cherry's song will forever serve as the theme song to this season, "Don't Miss the Magic" is providing inspiration in even bigger ways. Shortly after Cherry debuted her song in July, it became available for streaming online and to download at SoundCloud. With every stream or download of the song during the first week of its release, the Orioles Charitable Foundation pledged to donate $5 to Shannon's Fund, a program administered by the University of Maryland Medical Center helping to provide financial assistance to patients and their family members.

The release was met with tremendous success, and donations to Shannon's Fund poured in. Now, the Orioles are extending that pledge. Through the end of the baseball season, every stream or download of "Don't Miss the Magic" will be accompanied by a $5 donation by the Orioles Charitable Foundation to Shannon's Fund. No talent, artist, writing or production expenses are being accepted or deducted from the proceeds, meaning 100 percent of the money raised will go directly to help the fight against disease. It's all part of the Orioles' ongoing effort to bring artists and athletes together to benefit charitable community purposes. And just recently, you can now download "Don't Miss the Magic" on iTunes here!

Shannon's Fund was established in 2008 by the Orioles and OriolesREACH to provide financial assistance to hospital patients and their loved ones. The decision was inspired by former Orioles employee Shannon Obaker, who once served as the team's Director of Community Outreach. To those who knew her, Obaker had a passion for helping others, a perfect fit for someone responsible for reaching out to local communities. She was particularly fond of kids and animals, making a point to grant sick children their wish of meeting their favorite Orioles players.

"I was just chatting with people (at an event) and I happened to stumble upon Shannon's sister and then her parents and they were so warm and welcoming," Cherry said. "I never got to meet Shannon but I can imagine what she was like and so meeting the family was just really touching for me."

Obaker was an incredible ambassador for the Orioles, but tragically lost her own battle with cancer in 2007 at the age of 29. Since then, however, her memory has lived on through Shannon's Fund, which in just its ninth year of existence, has already impacted the lives of hundreds of families by providing assistance for the variety of medical costs that can place such a heavy burden of families during their most difficult time.

"The Orioles do an amazing job of combining both music and baseball for causes like this," Cherry said. "I was talking to a couple of people earlier about how baseball has the most fans because there are games every single day for six months, even spring training is an extra two, so that and music, there are so many fans and so many different times where we can get up on our platform and do good for others that need our help."