Trojan Booster Club’s ‘Everybody vs. Cancer’ raises over $5,000

FAIRFIELD — The Trojan Booster Club presented a check Tuesday for over $5,000 to Jefferson County Relay for Life, money raised during its “Everybody vs. Cancer” event on Jan. 15.

The Trojan boys’ and girls’ basketball teams hosted the Pekin Panthers that evening, and used the occasion to raise money for cancer research, cancer patients and their families. Funds raised will go to the American Cancer Society, and can be used locally when residents stay at the lodge for families of cancer patients at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City.

Just as it has in years’ past, the event raised money in a number of ways such as $1 from each gate ticket going to the cause, plus a dessert auction, and soup supper put on by the Student Council. Guests could purchase a rubber duck, which during halftime they throw onto the court, and the person who gets closest to the center wins a prize. A bucket was passed through the crowd called the “54 second bucket” to represent that 54 Iowans are diagnosed with cancer every day. Corporate sponsors paid for all basketball players for both Fairfield and Pekin to receive rally towels and T-shirts that say “Together We Fight.”

Shawn and Mandy McCarty felt moved to contribute to the cause. Shawn said he’s become friends with many members of the Relay for Life committee, and said cancer affects all families sooner or later. During that evening’s “54-second bucket,” Shawn texted Fairfield Activities Director Jeff Courtright that he and Mandy wanted to match the funds raised in the bucket.

“It’s nice to be able to do those things spur of the moment, as a surprise, because they weren’t expecting that,” Shawn said.

Courtright said he appreciates the Trojan Booster Club’s leadership and the support from the whole community for another successful Trojans vs. Cancer event.

“Cancer is a horrible disease that affects so many people, and everybody knows somebody who has had it or had to deal with it themselves,” he said. “We want to support the drive to find a cure to cancer. It’s a pretty easy thing to support.”

Kathy Winkelman of Community First Credit Union, a corporate sponsor of the event, remarked, “Our whole motto for the Credit Union is ‘people helping people’ and being involved in our communities,” she said. “There are so many people who are affected by cancer, and we want to show our support.”

Dawn Ridgeway Bechtel said the $5,038.73 check from this event will go toward the club’s goal this year of $40,000, even higher than last year’s $30,000 goal. A recent nine-pin bowling tournament held in Mt. Pleasant raised over $3,000, and the committee is planning another one for Fairfield at Flamingo Lanes on March 28, featuring 20 teams of four. The committee’s signature event, its luminaria walk/survivor meal, is planned for Sept. 26 at the Fairfield Golf & Country Club, where survivors and caretakers eat for free.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com