Paul Skenes is best known as one of the top pitchers in baseball, but he’s also a Raising Cane’s athlete bent on giving back. This is a common theme among those who partner with Todd Graves’ chicken restaurant. It’s the CEO and co-founder’s goal to give back, and those he works with, from Post Malone to Bryce Young, have shared the same goal. This time, Skenes and Cane’s are working together to support veterans through the Gary Sinise Foundation.
Raising Cane’s, Paul Skenes Partner for Gary Sinise Foundation
Even though it’s only been two years of an MLB career, Paul Skenes knows he wants to use his status to give back. Fresh off a dominating first full season in the big leagues, Skenes has officially teamed up with Raising Cane’s to do just that, even releasing an ad promoting the good cause.
In the ad, Skenes says, “In honor of our veterans, Raising Cane’s and I are proud to team up to support the Gary Sinise foundation. Please join us to support the foundation’s work in honoring and uplifting our nation’s defenders, veterans, and those in need.”
He also announced that between now and November 14, the restaurant will match any donations to the foundation up to $250,000. “Any donation in any amount helps,” the Pirates ace said. You can find out more at the Cane’s website. At the time of writing, they’d already raised over $43,000 for the foundation.
Skenes also donated $100 for every strikeout in the 2025 season to theGary Sinise Foundation, which ended up as quite a lot of money. The Pirates star was fourth in MLB with an astonishing 216 strikeouts in just 187.2 innings pitched. Skenes has also partnered up with the chicken restaurant to continue working to support veterans around Veterans Day next Tuesday.
Of course, the pitcher has a long history with Raising Cane’s, as he enjoyed his college days at LSU, which is not far from the original Cane’s. Now, because of the shared love of giving back, Skenes is teaming up with the company to help raise awareness and funds with a special year-long campaign.
Skenes’ connection with the military goes further than giving back, too. He was an Air Force cadet and even attended the academy for two years. Had he stuck around there, he might’ve ended up as an active member of our military now, but he transferred to LSU and pursed his baseball dreams.
A coach at the Air Force helped him realize it was either the military or baseball, but it couldn’t really be both. Skenes, who is one of the most gifted pitchers this sport has seen in a long time, understandably chose baseball. But his connection to the military and what it means for this country remains strong, so he’s giving back and even using baseball to do so.
As for the baseball, Skenes is coming off a fantastic year, and he stands a very good chance of winning the National League Cy Young award after winning NL Rookie of the Year in 2024. He went 10-10 (on a struggling team) with an outstanding 1.97 ERA, the first since Justin Verlander in 2022 to record an ERA below 2.00. He also led NL pitchers in fWAR and various other metrics, and is the far and away favorite to take home the award.
Conclusion
Dominant on the mound, Paul Skenes clearly recognizes the value in life off of it. The Pittsburgh Pirates ace is using his status and his military connections to, with the help of Raising Cane’s, give back to veterans around the nation, which is occurring just in time for Veteran’s Day.
