Boys Basketball Game: Coaches Vs. Cancer Fundraiser

 Monday, Feb. 14, marks the last home game of the season for the Port Washington boys basketball team at Schreiber High School. Not only will the team honor its seniors, it is also turning this game with Plainview JFK into a coaches-versus-cancer fundraiser, an American Cancer Society program

 “Through district faculty and high school students, we are creating a "wall of hope," which allows people to put the name of someone they know who has dealt with or is currently dealing with cancer on a basketball cutout,” says Port Washington Head Coach Sean Dooley. The cutouts are supplied by the American Cancer Society.

 As Dooley tells it, with each cutout a donation of any amount can be made. The cutout then will be put up on the walls of the gym during Monday night’s game.

 “We will also be taking donations before and during halftime of the game itself, so for those people who are planning on attending they can also be a part of the fundraiser as well,” Dooley said. 

He added, “This is the first time the basketball program has done the coaches-versus-cancer fundraiser. Other sports have done different types of fundraisers for cancer and other diseases but this is the first time we have done a cancer fundraiser. We did the Hoops for Haiti last year.

Dooley explained why raising money to fight cancer is important to him.

“I lost my mother to ovarian cancer in June. Three of my grandparents have passed on due to cancer, and my other grandmother is fighting breast cancer right now,” he said. “My father has also been diagnosed with rectal and prostate cancer but caught them early so he is actually cancer-free right now. So as you can probably tell it's something that has had a very big impact on my life.”

 The coaches will be wearing sneakers on the sideline during the game to draw attention to the fundraiser. Game time is 6:30 p.m.