The St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team celebrated ” Think Pink” day on Sunday during its game against the Rhode Island Rams.
“Think Pink” day is an event where Bonnies raise money by selling pink T-shirts, and raffles sponsoring awareness and support the fight against breast cancer. The Bonnies women won the game 73-59, and “Think Pink” day was successful with the level of support shown from game attendees
Prior to this year, Bonaventure worked alongside a national organization known as Play for K, in which the proceeds were donated to the organization for breast cancer.
The organization allocated where the money went. Seth Johnson, director of marketing and promotions, expressed to Jim Crowley, the women’s basketball coach, the need for money made during this event to go back into the local community.
Therefore, the school branched off to make “Think Pink” an independent event, where the money made stays in the local area.
The money this year goes directly to Olean General Hospital. Johnson recognized the local need and believes that St. Bonaventure cannot overlook cancer patients within the community. The money will go towards research at the hospital and to cancer detection machines that are sharper and more efficient.
“There are so many people affected by breast cancer, we wanted to do the recognition beforehand, letting breast cancer survivors and other people in the audience stand up as representatives of the community,” Johnson said. “It is a good visual for people to really reflect and to see where things were going.”
The amount of support was clear and present, according to sophomore sociology major and Bonaventure cheerleader Khaleah Moore. She believes that donating to the local hospital is a plus, because the bigger hospitals tend to already have the money to afford the proper machines. She said that the event went well, considering the amount of pink t-shirts that were worn all around the court.
“I think this game went very well,” Moore said. “Even the opposing team showed support and were wearing pink. The event was executed very well and it went smoothly.”
Moore has been around people she is close to who have dealt with breast cancer. Moore says she is proud to have participated in an event that gives back to the Bonnies community.
Another student who worked the event as part of the on-campus club Team Bona’s was freshman journalism and mass communication major Tom Cottingham.
According to Cottingham, it felt great just to be able to help out. He said he appreciated being apart of a club, which helps to raise the money going towards the detection machines needed at the hospital.
Johnson also added it is important to help others in your community, because everyone is connected.
“Knowing how prevalent breast cancer is, it is important to be proactive and to bring awareness to it should not take having it affect you personally. Bonaventure is a tight-knit university, that has a tight community, and tight departments and when one of us are affected then we all are,” Johnson said.
