Number of Participants: 23
Hours Donated: 14
Value of Time Served: $2,721
Event Amount Raised: $8,060
Event Type: Health & Medicine
Sport: Girls Volleyball
School: North Salem Middle/ High School
Date: October 14, 2023
Location:
203 June Road
North Salem, NY
USA
About:
For over ten years, the North Salem Volleyball program has been partnering with the Side-Out foundation to raise awareness and money for metastatic breast cancer research. It has become a beloved tradition and an incredible opportunity to teach the girls about giving back. This year, the campaign was led by senior Olivia Kasdan and sophomore Bella LeClair. Both Kasdan and LeClair had members of their immediate family diagnosed with breast cancer, so this campaign was incredibly personal. The two worked behind the scenes to coordinate everything and lead the JV and Varsity volleyball teams to another successful year.
The North Salem community are always so supportive of our campaign. In the week leading up to our Dig Pink game, the Varsity Boys Soccer team, the Varsity Girls Soccer team, and the Varsity Girls Field Hockey team hosted their own pink out games to show their support. At the soccer games, the volleyball team set up concession stands where we sold donated food items and merchandise to spectators and students.
On Friday, October 13, we had a pink out day at school where we encouraged the entire school to join our rally and show their support by rocking the color. We also set up a stand in the cafeteria where we accepted donations and sold merchandise, like rubber bracelets, temporary tattoos, and even pink hair spray.
We hosted Brewster High School for our Dig Pink game on Saturday, October 14. On that rainy morning, students, families, and friends packed the gym to watch our game. Brewster showed their support of our campaign by wearing pink tshirts to warm up in and pink hair ribbons. Both teams recognized that this game was bigger than all of us. Despite us falling short and Brewster beating us, the girls could not have been more proud to play for such an important cause.
The following weekend was packed with more Dig Pink events. On Saturday, October 21, we hosted our 2nd annual Coffee for a Cause event at Bobo’s Cafe in Somers, NY. Bobo’s graciously partnered with us and agreed to give customers a free cup of coffee or hot chocolate if they donated to our cause. This event has become a truly special tradition, because we are now not only getting the North Salem community involved in our fundraiser, but other surrounding towns as well. There were tons of people from Somers, Yorktown, and even Mahopac visiting the cafe that we were now able to impact and get involved in our cause. At this event alone, we were able to raise $1,805 for the Side-Out foundation.
The next day, we hosted our annual Car Wash at the Croton Falls Fire Department. It was a bit chilly, but the North Salem and Croton Falls community still showed their support and visited us. We never put a price on the car wash, we simply advertise it as a free car wash but ask if people would like to donate to breast cancer. All of our customers were incredibly generous and were thanking the girls for rallying for this important cause. From the car wash, we raised an additional $1,285, making that weekend an incredibly successful weekend.
In total, we raised $8,060 for the Side-Out foundation. With every $2,000 raised through Dig Pink campaigns, the Side-Out foundation is able to provided unprecedented analysis to metastatic breast cancer patients and their oncologists. That being said, from our fundraiser, we are able to say that we actively helped to improve the length and quality of life for multiple people that have been diagnosed with stage iv breast cancer. The memories made and that feeling they got from helping individuals and families going through this battle will stick with the girls for the rest of their lives.
Here is the link to our online donation page.