Wish granted: Cubs fan with Down syndrome to sing anthem at Wrigley Field Monday

Cubs fan Stefan Xidas more than doubled his first goal of raising $5,000 for Special Olympics, and now he’ll get to accomplish his second goal by singing the national anthem at Wrigley Field. The club has invited him to sing before the Cubs host the Brewers on Monday night, Xidas announced in an update on his GoFundMe page.

Xidas, who has Down syndrome, decided to try to get the Cubs’ attention earlier this month by posting a GoFundMe campaign challenging owner Tom Ricketts: If Xidas could raise $5,000 for Special Olympics, then the club should let him sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before a game.

Fifteen days since it was first posted, the GoFundMe has raised over $11,000, more than twice as much as it was originally aiming for.

Now Xidas has posted an update to the page announcing the good news:

“I wanted to thank everyone for their generous donations and support throughout my campaign to live out my dream of singing the National Anthem at a Cubs game. I’m excited to announce that because of all of you, my dream is going to come true. The Chicago Cubs have asked me to perform the National Anthem before their game this Monday, September 10th at 7:05pm vs. the Milwaukee Brewers.

“The Cubs also announced that they will be matching our donation which is currently over $11,500. Together, we are going to be able to donate over $23,000 to the Special Olympics Organization. This is such an incredible moment for me. Thank you to everyone who has helped raise this money and made my dream come true!”

The Cubs told the Sun-Times in late August that they were “currently exploring” ways to help support Xidas in reaching his goal. Now they’ve done just that by not only granting his dream, but matching the GoFundMe donation figure to donate over $23,000 to charity.

The Brewers come to Wrigley Field to face the Cubs at 7:05 p.m. CT Monday night. Xidas will be there beforehand to belt out the anthem before nearly 40,000 fans.