Men's Lacrosse to hold 7th Annual American Cancer Society Event
Our seventh annual American Cancer Society fundraising event will be held on November 2nd with the brief ceremony beginning at 7:00 p.m. As many of you know, Lauren McCullough was the inspiration of the event in November of 2013. Lauren, who had battled and defeated a bout of Ewing's Sarcoma in her senior year of high school, was an All-American swimmer at DVC. In her last event of the 2013 season at DVC she came in third in the state, which was a bit of a shock since she was the favorite going in to the state meet. When getting out of the pool, she slipped and injured her rib cage. She went to the doctor only to find that the cancer had returned and was in her lungs. While speaking to an athletic counselor, Jamie Bailey at DVC, she indicated that her condition was terminal and that she wanted to spend her last days getting the word out about Ewing's Sarcoma and other childhood cancers. She did not know exactly how to get that started. When Jamie told her athletic counselor colleague, Terry Armstrong about it, he immediately indicated that he would talk with the lacrosse team about dedicating a game and fundraising event to launch her voice. The lacrosse team was ALL IN! A game was identified in November of 2013 and Lauren spoke eloquently, inspirationally and passionately about life and the importance of never giving up. After her speech the team president presented her with the #1 jersey and told her she was tonight's honorary captain, a role (of being a team captain) that we later discovered was on her bucket list. With the issuance of that jersey to Lauren, we retired #1. With the help of DVC Communications department, the print and television press came to the event, which launched Lauren toward numerous additional speaking engagements which reached large audiences. View her documentary at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psQt51hmEso
It is a can't miss game and event, as we have all been affected by cancer in one way or another. It is the ONLY game when we charge a $10 per adult and $2 per student entry fee that is directly collected by the American Cancer Society. This year Tess O'Leary will be on hand to collect the donations. There will also be drawings throughout the evening and fans will receive one ticket each upon their donation; but are encouraged to buy more chances to win by buying additional tickets at $1 each. All of these proceeds will also go directly to the American Cancer Society.
By the way, there will be a game that evening versus our local MCLA team, Saint Mary's College who was eager to partner with us this year for the event.
(Pictured is Lauren on the left with two of her good friends, in her #1 Viking lacrosse jersey. Gold is the color representing Ewing's Sarcoma and other childhood cancers)