The Lady Wolves proudly presented a $1,000 check to McLaren on June 6 after raising the money during the Clarkston Varsity Softball’s Third Annual Girls in Pink Classic.
“It’s a great thing and a great opportunity for us to give back to the community,” said Mackenzie King, finishing her final year with the team.
“It is a really easy going feeling because we are always playing for our sisters, our families, but it is good to play for the community,” added Katelyn Kuenzel.
This year’s Girls in Pink Classic was even more special since her teammates played in honor of her mom, Debbie. Debbie was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer in February and finished her last bout with chemotherapy on June 5.
“Then she will have radiation and a lumpectomy,” Katelyn explained.
The donation will be split with $500 going towards free mammogram screening and $500 to colon cancer.
“To have young ladies come together for a cause like this is truly outstanding,” said Teresa Rodges, founder of Sister & Sister Free Mammogram Foundation and Executive Director of the McLaren Oakland Foundation
She explained the donation will make a huge impact in many lives.
“We are finding out there are more and more women who are unemployed and can’t afford it,” she added. “What we don’t want is these women to not get their screening and possibly have cancer and not know about it because they can’t afford it.”
Since starting the Sister & Sister foundation, over, 4,000 free mammogram screenings have been given with 50 detections of breast cancer.
The free mammograms are provided to women in north Oakland County. Rodges added especially Clarkston since McLaren Breast Center is in Independence Township.
“It is a blessing for young people to get together to help support this cause especially in this community since we have our cancer center here,” Rodges said.
She explained the free screenings are for women primarily 40 years of age or older and have a history of breast cancer in their family.
“Then we will provide the screening per their physician’s orders,” Rodges said. “A lot of people now we are detecting breast cancer is 30-year-olds. We have seen 30-year-olds die because they didn’t have their screening. We encourage people to be aware of their bodies and if they see something abnormal to make sure they get screened. If we detect it early there is a 98 percent survival rate and that is our goal.”
“It is a great way to give back to the game, too,” added senior Rachel Vieira. “The game has given us so much and has taught us so much about life.”