No matter what the final result on the scoreboard is next week in their annual softball contest with UAB Selma Family Medicine, Alabama Teen Challenge will be the night’s big winner.

All proceeds from the game, which will take place July 17 at Bloch Park at 6:30 p.m., will go to Alabama Teen Challenge, a faith-based rehabilitation program that guides individuals in their fight to overcome addiction of all kinds. Admission to the game is $3 and concessions will be available.

There are over 200 Teen Challenge programs throughout the United States, which offer a variety of programs for youth, adults and families, but the charity relies largely on donations and fundraisers.

“This is really big. We have to raise our own budget,” Teen Challenge program director Jason Easter said. “The only government assistance we get is our tax-exempt status, so our budget is roughly $1200 a bed, so it is consistently $34,000 to $36,000 a month we have to raise, so we have a grass cutting business and we do a lot of fundraising like car washes.”

Susan Hunter, the softball game organizer and former residency program coordinator at UAB Selma Family Medicine, said the game is a chance for many of the Teen Challenge participants to see doctors they are probably already familiar with in a different environment.

“The most important thing to a person who has these life controlling issues is to just be normal,” Hunter said. “They just want to feel normal and not have people look down on them and when they can sit next to that doctor afterwards and eat a hot dog and then go out there and play ball with them, it is really a fun night for all involved.”

Easter said the Teen Challenge program has a very high success rate for individuals that go through the 12-month curriculum.

A 2011 study by the University of Minnesota showed that nearly 60 percent of graduates reported no use in the six months after leaving the program.

“It is oldest and the largest and statistically it is the most successful program that is out there,” Easter said.  “

The closest one to Selma is located in Jones, which specializes in adult restoration and juvenile referrals.

There are a total of four residential facilities in Alabama, with the other three located in Lincoln, Bay Minette and Warrior.