The Albion men's lacrosse team is partnering with the Vs. Cancer Foundation for the second year in a row to raise money and spread awareness to help fight pediatric cancer. The fundraiser will last throughout the season.
"To do something to help those that are in an unfortunate circumstance in order to live is a point of pride for our program," Zach Hubbell, a junior midfielder from East Lansing, Mich., said. "The fact that we are also the first program in the state of Michigan to support cancer awareness by donating our hair and shaving our heads is also huge for us.
"Coach has been working with the VS. Cancer Foundation for about a year now to get this going for us and now it's finally coming together. Personally, I have been growing my hair for two and a half years now so that someone who is less fortunate than I can enjoy having hair again. It's also a tradition to donate long hair here in our program and I wanted to continue that. It's about doing something that's bigger than ourselves, and we couldn't be happier to lend a helping hand."
The Vs. Cancer Foundation's model of giving is based on impacting kids fighting cancer now, as well as impacting the number diagnosed in the future. Fifty percent of the proceeds will fund national cancer research efforts while the other half will go directly to Michigan State University Clinical Center in Lansing.
Chase Jones, founder and CEO of the Vs. Cancer Foundation was treated for a stage IV brain tumor as a college freshman and student athlete at UNC Chapel Hill. The support of his teammates during treatment is what motivated him to start the Vs. Cancer Foundation. ''My teammates are what kept me going during treatment. Because of the guys at Albion, there will be kids being treated in Michigan who will have that same support as I did with the Albion lacrosse team as the team behind them. The scariest thing I went through during treatment was sitting next to young kids as they went through the same thing I was. Having personally been on the receiving end of these funds, I can attest to what these guys are doing: helping the next child, in Michigan, have a better chance of beating cancer.''
Vs. Cancer has worked with hundreds of athletes, teams and communities nationwide to fund the comprehensive spectrum of the pediatric cancer battle: from research initiatives across the country to healing programs within local children's hospitals.
About the Vs. Cancer Foundation
