Eight SEC College Football Teams Are Playing Against Their Biggest Challenge This September
Coaches and players are joining Curing Kids Cancer to create pediatric cancer awareness during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
I’m happy that football coaches and players are raising awareness about childhood cancer. We all want to tackle kids’ cancer and kick it into the end zone so it becomes a thing of the past.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, USA, September 4, 2015 /EINPresswire.com/ -- When eight SEC teams hit the gridiron next month, their coaches and players will be raising awareness that September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death for children.— Lee Corso, ESPN GameDay commentator
Working with Atlanta-based nonprofit Curing Kids Cancer, the teams’ players will kick off the charity’s annual awareness campaign. Players will wear gold ribbon Curing Kids Cancer stickers on their helmets while coaches wear gold whistles and Curing Kids Cancer lanyards. Gold is the official color for childhood cancer awareness. Players and coaches will both wear Curing Kids Cancer glow-in-the-dark wristbands.
Fans can support their teams by wearing the same stickers, wristbands and whistles, which can be purchased at curingkidscancer.org/blowthewhistle.
Building on the success of the two previous campaigns, the number of SEC teams participating this year has increased for the third year in a row. Taking on pediatric cancer as well as their opponents are:
September 12 - at University of South Carolina vs. Kentucky
September 12 - Louisiana State University at Mississippi State
September 19 - at University of Georgia vs. University of South Carolina
September 19 - at Vanderbilt vs. Austin Peay
September 19 - at Alabama vs. Ole Miss
September 19 - at Mississippi State vs. Northwestern State
September 19 – at University of Tennessee vs. Western Carolina
September 26 - at Texas A&M vs. Arkansas
“As Chairman of Coaches Curing Kids Cancer, I’m happy that college football coaches and players are raising awareness about childhood cancer,” said college football commentator Lee Corso. “It’s fantastic that so many teams are supporting this great cause. We all want to tackle kids’ cancer and kick it into the end zone so it becomes a thing of the past.”
"These teams and coaches are under a tremendous amount of pressure to perform at the highest levels as they kick-off the season,” said ‘Mr. College Football’ and college football commentator Tony Barnhart. “What a wonderful testament to their desire to help eradicate these horrible diseases that they would not only join the cause, but do it in ever increasing numbers. It's another example of how the college football community can be a force for good."
“This is a great opportunity for Curing Kids Cancer to partner with college football players, coaches and fans to help children with cancer,” said Grainne Owen, founder and executive director of Curing Kids Cancer. “We hope the teams’ efforts to raise awareness of the desperate need for funding for childhood cancer will motivate their fans to support them! The fans can go to our website and buy the same stickers, wristbands and whistles their teams are wearing or simply make a donation.”
In 2014, Curing Kids Cancer provided over $1 million in funding for cutting-edge research projects which may eventually make traditional chemotherapy obsolete. Over the past ten years, the organization has raised more than $7 million for pediatric cancer research.
Money raised during this campaign is targeted for hospitals in the states where the teams are located including: Children’s Hospital of Alabama, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital in Columbia, S.C., Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital Cancer Center at Vanderbilt, Texas Children’s Hospital and UT Southwestern, Batson Children’s Hospital at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and Louisiana State University Medical Center Department of Pediatrics.
About Curing Kids Cancer
Grainne and Clay Owen created curing Kids Cancer after losing their son Killian to leukemia in 2003 at age nine. Curing Kids Cancer raises money and awareness to fund innovative research that provides cutting edge treatments to children with cancer. The non-profit has raised more than $7 million for pediatric cancer research since being founded in 2005. More information is available at curingkidscancer.org
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Marcia Purday, APR
Curing Kids Cancer
803-318-3188
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