Sept. 16, 2015
When Vanderbilt takes the field against Austin Peay this Saturday, Commodore coaches and players will help kick off the Curing Kids Cancer annual awareness campaign.
Vanderbilt’s players will wear Curing Kids Cancer helmet stickers with a gold ribbon while their coaches wear gold whistles and Curing Kids Cancer lanyards. 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.
In honor of the support from Vanderbilt, Curing Kids Cancer recently made a $25,000 donation to fund pediatric cancer research at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital Cancer Center at Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt is one of nine SEC teams participating in the campaign, joining Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Alabama, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M and LSU.
The campaign supports National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September. Cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death for children killing more children each year than AIDS, Asthma, Cystic Fibrosis, Diabetes and Muscular Dystrophy combined. Gold is the official color for childhood cancer awareness.
“As Chairman of Curing Kids Cancer, I’m very happy to see so many of these college football coaches and players stepping up to raise awareness about childhood cancer,” said ESPN GameDay 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, making it a thing of the past.”
“These teams and coaches are under a tremendous amount of pressure to perform at the highest levels,” said the charity spokesman for the campaign ‘Mr. College Football’ and SEC Network Commentator Tony Barnhart. Tony is also a member of the Curing Kids Cancer Executive Advisory Board. “What a wonderful testament to their desire to help eradicate these horrible diseases that they would not only join the cause, but do so in ever-increasing numbers. It’s another example of how the college football community can be such a great example and a formidable force for good.”
In 2014 Curing Kids Cancer provided more than $1 million in funding for cutting-edge research projects that may eventually make traditional chemotherapy obsolete. Over the past ten years, the organization has raised more than $7 million for pediatric cancer research.
