Wells Breast Cancer Center dedicated to participants in girls basketball fundraiser

Post date: Sep 18, 2019 11:51:25 AM

On September 12, 2019, York Hospital’s Wells Breast Care Center was formally dedicated in honor of the student-athletes of the Wells-Ogunquit Girls Basketball Program for raising over $270,000 for the hospital’s Breast Cancer and Living Well with Cancer funds. This was accomplished over a decade by team members shooting free throws matched with pledges in a program called “Shootin’ For A Cure”.

The idea for this annual fundraiser was that of Girls Basketball Coach Don Abbott. The program has been coordinated by a committee of seven (including Abbott) which manages and organizes this endeavor with various fundraising activities.

Present for the dedication was current and former team members, hospital staff including physicians and others from the community. Among the speakers who praised the contributions of the Wells girls was guest speaker Lani (Boardman) Silversides of York, an athlete, author, and cancer survivor.

York Hospital CEO Judd Knox was also present and thanked not only the athletes but the community for their support in his remarks to those assembled. “(This is) a wonderfully fine occasion,” said CEO Knox when asked later for a comment. “These girls and young women have done such an awesome job over the last 10 years. The dollars are really almost overwhelming but not nearly as meaningful as their contributions to helping other people. That’s the whole deal,” continued Knox who says he enjoys the smiles on team members’ faces each year when they shoot for a cure. “My reward is their smiling faces. It’s awesome,” he added.

Every January, approximately 70 fifth through twelfth-grade team members from Wells High School and Wells Junior High School gather together for many hours on a Saturday to shoot hoops to honor pledges made by the public.

Also attending the dedication ceremony was York Hospital Trustee John Houlihan whose daughter Kate passed away from cancer. Houlihan stresses the importance of the Living Well with Cancer fund in helping families caring for a cancer sufferer meet expenses not covered by insurance. He said that his daughter (who lived in New Jersey) was very fond of donating to a similar fund in her area.

The next Shootin’ for Cure event is scheduled for January 18, 2020 in the Ronco Gymnasium at Wells High School. The event will also feature an evening basketball game with Traip Academy. According to Shootin’ For a Cure Committee member Karen Tufts anyone can make a pledge to this program. For more information contact Pierce Cole at pcole@wocsd.org.

A mix of 5th through 12th-grade participants in the Wells-Ogunquit CSD’s Girls Basketball program. They are surrounding a plaque honoring them and their teammates.

The Shootin’ For a Cure Committee are, from left to right, Pierce Cole, Judy Moody, Darcy Ramsdell, Cheryl Turner, Karen Tufts, and Don Abbott. Absent from the photo is Committee member Marty Webb.