Several events scheduled for annual cancer awareness event
MURFREESBORO — For
a great cause and a great basketball game this week, MTSU wants its True Blue
fans to think pink!
The 21st-ranked Middle Tennessee women’s basketball team hosts its annual Play
4Kay Power of Pink game on Saturday, Feb. 8, when Rice visits for a 2 p.m.
Conference USA game. At a Monday press conference inside the Kennon Sports Hall
of Fame, members of MT Athletic Department asked all fans to wear pink to the
game to celebrate and honor those who have survived and honor those who have
lost their battle with cancer.
Fans that wear pink to the game can purchase a discounted $5
ticket. The Blue Raiders will auction all 15 of the exclusive game-worn pink
uniforms immediately following the game. Proceeds from the auctioned jerseys
will be split between the Kay Yow Cancer Fund and Saint Thomas Rutherford
Foundation’s Power of Pink fund. Fans can also donate online to Play 4Kay by
clicking here.
“We want everyone to come out and wear pink. We want a Pink
Out!” said Diane Turnham, MTSU associate athletic director, who was joined at
the press conference by coach Rick Insell. “We want fans to contribute to a
great cause. Hopefully we can raise a great amount for both of these great
charities.”
“We want to get as many people as aware as possible about
what’s going on with cancer research,” Insell added.
Prior to the game, select cancer survivors will be
introduced and stand with the Blue Raiders during the national anthem. Thanks
to local sponsors, special Play 4Kay T-shirts will be thrown out in the stands
throughout the game. After the contest, the entire 2013-14 Blue Raider squad
will sign autographs on the main floor of Murphy Center.
The Kay Yow Cancer Fund was officially founded on Dec. 3,
2007, from the vision of the organization’s namesake Kay Yow, a former North
Carolina State University head women’s basketball coach. Yow was first
diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987, and passed away on Jan. 24, 2009, after
facing her third bout with the disease.
Before her death, Yow joined forces with the Women’s
Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and The V Foundation for Cancer Research
to form the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization committed
to being a part of finding an answer in the fight against women’s cancers through
raising money for scientific research, assisting the underserved and unifying
people for a common cause.
Since the Fund’s inception, $8 million has been raised and
$2.5 million has been granted for scientific research and related programs
focused on women’s cancers thanks to the generosity and continued support of
donors.
Dr. Gloria Bonner, MTSU special assistant to the president
and a breast cancer survivor, shared her story as fellow survivors and Blue
Raider fans Brenda Wilson of Murfreesboro, Betsy Bobo of Shelbyville and Mary
Jane Henry of Murfreesboro looked on.
Bonner said she “remembers very vividly” that day in
September 2012 when a lump was diagnosed as breast cancer and now looks forward
to the day when cancer is eradicated — perhaps by the scientific discovery of
an MTSU student.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to celebrate the
survivors,” she said. “I am grateful to say that I am a survivor, and my
mission is to help others to be aware of it and to encourage preventive
measures.”
The Saint Thomas Rutherford Foundation’s Power of Pink fund
provides diagnostic breast cancer services to Rutherford County women who are
uninsured and underinsured. During the last fiscal year, the Our Mission in
Motion mobile mammography coach visited Rutherford County 29 times and performed
329 mammograms, 35 percent of which were charity care. In addition, $88,843 of
the Power of Pink monies has been spent this year for mammograms and/or
biopsies for 529 indigent women.
“No one ever thinks it’s going to happen to them,” said
Wilson, whose cancer was discovered during a routine annual mammogram this past
November. “The more awareness that we can have for people to have their
mammograms yearly. … And knowing that you have a community like MTSU that supports
this effort is just wonderful.”
PLAY 4KAY POWER OF
PINK GAME EVENTS
• Select cancer survivors will stand with the Blue Raiders during the team introductions and national anthem.
• Commemorative Play 4Kay pink T-shirts will be thrown out during the game.
• The exclusive pink Blue Raider jerseys will be auctioned off after the game. Proceeds will benefit the Kay Yow Cancer Fund and the Saint Thomas Rutherford Foundation’s Power of Pink breast cancer fund.
• A special autograph session with the Blue Raider basketball team will take place immediately after the game.
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