Think pink, fight breast cancer at fundraisers benefiting Northwest Community Healthcare

During the month of October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Northwest Community Healthcare (NCH) is grateful for two community organizations who’ve joined in the fight against breast cancer.

Each organization is raising funds for the NCH Foundation’s Gift-a-Mammogram Program, which provides screenings and diagnostics for patients who cannot afford them.

Prospect High School

Volley for a Cure, hosted by Prospect High School Girls’ Volleyball, takes place October 10 beginning at 5 p.m. at Prospect High School, 801 W. Kensington Road in Mount Prospect. The teams, led by Coach Laura Gerber, are hopeful that they’ll meet or exceed last year’s contribution of $8,500.

“Our girls sell roughly 850 pink T-shirts and that money is what we donate,” explains Gerber. “The night of the event we will have volleyball matches, sell raffle items, have a 50/50 raffle and Penske Truck Leasing will be volunteering to help sell the tickets and facilitate the event.”

Gerber coaches 56 girls who are on freshman, sophomore, junior varsity and varsity teams. She’s hoping the word spreads about the importance of breast cancer screening.

“My mother is a breast cancer survivor,” Gerber says. “Obviously early detection is important and we really wanted to do something for the community. This is a great way for us to do it.”

 Elite Soccer Community Organization (ESCO)

ESCO soccer teams are kicking cancer by buying and wearing pink T-shirts to their games throughout the month of October. They’ve sold more than 500 T-shirts so far, according to Jay Casaletto, Executive Director of ESCO. The general public is invited to join in the fight against breast cancer by attending ESCO’s Pink Out game scheduled for 6 p.m. on Sunday, October 27 at Rolling Meadows High School.

 “We will have DJ Flipside from B96’s ‘Flipside at 5’ spinning music pre-game and at halftime, and we’ll have games for kids, hot chocolate, pink treats, a 50/50 raffle and more,” Casaletto says.

 All proceeds will support NCH’s Gift-a-Mammogram Program. Last year’s ESCO fundraiser brought in enough money to provide 25 mammograms for women in need. For more information, visit elitesoccercommunity.org.

“When young people come together for a cause like breast cancer, they become a powerful and inspiring force,” says David Ungurean, Executive Director of the NCH Foundation. “Together, these two groups will provide this vital screening for many women in our community and very likely save lives.”  

NCH’s award-winning Breast Center provides 3D mammography as a standard and offers four convenient locations with same-day results available. Schedule a mammogram online at nch.org/breast or call 847-618-3700.