Contact: Debra Dennis
214-378-1851
For immediate release — Nov. 2, 2015
(DALLAS) — Several colleges in the Dallas County Community College District system joined the nationwide effort to raise funds for breast cancer research and other prevention measures in October during national Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The Lady Bears volleyball team at Brookhaven College dedicated their efforts during a home game against Cedar Valley College on Oct. 19 in the school’s gym, said Jason Hopkins, Brookhaven’s head volleyball coach. The team played the game not for themselves, but to raise funds, encourage screenings and share awareness about the disease with other students, officials said.
Efforts by the players, coaches and fans signaled the district’s continuing interest in breast cancer awareness. This year, the annual “Dig Pink” volleyball match ended with a 3-0 (25-8, 25-5, 25-10) victory for Brookhaven against Cedar Valley. The team raised $1,428 to donate to the Virginia-based Side-Out Foundation’s “Dig Pink” program for breast cancer research. Last year, the Lady Bears raised $1,000 and donated the funds to the same organization.
Side-Out partners with basketball organizations to raise money that helps fund a clinical trial specifically for patients who have advanced breast cancer, the least-funded area of research. The organization supports research, education and helping people regain control of their lives. They take their name Side-Out from the volleyball term that means regaining control.
Hopkins said, “Special thanks go to our early college high school students for contributing nearly $500 through T-shirt sales and a cupcake drive! We also want to thank Jason and Jan Sickles for their assistance in the silent auction and entry donations, as well as the entire athletic program for supporting this match.”
Other DCCCD colleges also made commitments to eradicate this deadly disease. Earlier last month, Cedar Valley students hosted a “Volleyball Pink Out” that included a basketball shooting contest, cookout and dance.
National statistics indicate that a woman in the U.S. is diagnosed with breast cancer every two minutes. The disease is the second most common cause of cancer in women — second to lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. They estimate 200,000 women get breast cancer annually in the United States.
Early screenings and detection, along with routine monthly checks, are vital to improving the chances of surviving breast cancer, experts say.
For more information about the Brookhaven-Cedar Valley “Dig Pink” game results, contact Hopkins by email at
jhopkins@dcccd.edu or by phone at 972-860-4246.
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