RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Felician College women's volleyball team will sponsor its Third Annual "Dig Pink" Night, to raise funds and awareness for the fight against breast cancer, during its 7 p.m. home match against Bloomfield College on Friday, October 19.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and pink is the color of the breast cancer awareness ribbon. Breast cancer is the second-most common cancer among American women, and the second-leading cause of cancer death among women worldwide. Anyone attending Friday's match is encouraged to wear pink.
Team members and third-year coach Amber Butler have already donated their own time and money to the cause. In addition to soliciting raffle prizes and selling tickets in advance of Friday's match, the squad also took a recent outing to a local hair salon and dug into their own pockets.
"Lunar E-Clips in Clifton is selling pink hair extensions and feather extensions in October, and donating 50 percent of the money to a local breast cancer charity," said Jenna Matesic, a four-year starter and the Golden Falcons' only senior. "Everyone got at least one extension – I got three! We ended up spending $175 as a team."
At Friday's event, two sets of raffles will be held, a basket raffle and a grand prize raffle. Grand prizes include an IPod Shuffle and a football signed by New York Jets all-pro Darrelle Revis. Local DJ Let's Play will perform pre-match, and Felician players will wear pink and white jerseys rather than their usual home white and green.
"We've really gone above and beyond what we've done the last two years in terms of making this a special night," Matesic said. "It's been a great opportunity to bond with the team off the court, while still being charitable. I think we all realize this disease is becoming too frequent. My grandmother is a breast cancer survivor, and she's coming to the match, so that's really exciting."
Admission to Friday's match is free, but donations will be accepted. In addition to raffle tickets, the team will also sell T-Shirts in an attempt to generate funds. "100 percent of the proceeds will go directly toward helping find a cure for breast cancer," Butler said.
Felician plays its home matches at Job Gymnasium on its Rutherford Campus. For more information, contact coach Butler at ButlerA@felician.edu.
