Photo courtesy of Fordham Athletics
With a month to go until a fundraising walk for breast cancer research in Central Park, members of the Fordham softball team encountered a pleasant problem: They already had raised $3,000 in support of the event. They had met their goal.
So, they doubled it.
Now the team hopes to raise $6,000, and members are optimistic that the surge of financial support will continue.
“People have been really responsive to it so far,” said Assistant Coach Emily Friedman, one of about two dozen players, coaches and friends of the team participating in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk on Oct. 19.
The event, organized every year by the American Cancer Society, is drawing an energetic response from Fordham students. It’s something that fits with the University’s Jesuit mission of community service, Friedman said.
The softball team looks for a community service project every year. Team members walked in the event last year to show support for the cause, but started preparing for it earlier this year, in August, so they would have time to raise money as well, said Sarah Campbell, a senior at the Rose Hill campus and team captain for the breast cancer walk.
All their fundraising has been online. The $3,000 came from seven team members who used e-mail, along with individualized fundraising pages on the Making Strides website, to seek donations.
The Internet has played a key role by allowing students to raise donations from family and friends who may be a few states away, Campbell said.
“A lot of our players are from different states,” she said.
Making Strides is taking place in hundreds of cities nationwide during October. The money raised will support various efforts such as research into new treatments, education about prevention, programs and services for people battling the disease, and advocacy for public policies that provide mammograms and breast cancer treatment for all women, regardless of income.
Campbell said she hopes the softball team’s participation continues every year.
“I hope the younger kids on the team continue to sign up for this and really make a difference,” she said. “It’s something that, as young women, we should be aware of and should get involved in.”
