All of the money raised by pink games stays here in our community to support women battling breast and other women’s reproductive cancers
Loveland, Ohio – The upcoming pink game, Thursday, September 24, at Tiger Stadium between Loveland and Kings high schools, is part of a series called “Friday Night Pinks”, to benefit local non-profit, Pink Ribbon Girls.
Kings was one of the first schools to host a pink game and now it is an annual event between the Knights and the Tigers. This is the first year for it to be hosted by Loveland. Between the schools, they have come up with their own name Rumble for the Ribbon. “It’s so great when two rivals come together for one cause,” said organizer, Jan Middleton.
The game is selected by Time Warner Cable to be the Game of the week and will be televised. That is the reason it is now a Thursday night game.
The main fundraising component of pink games is the personalized tee-shirts. Many schools across Cincinnati and Dayton will host games and sell tee-shirts. The back of each shirt is personalized with the two schools that are playing each other. The schools sell the shirts by pre-order or at the school the week prior to the game. Last year, Kings and Loveland sold over 1,200 shirts.
The game also has local sponsors that get involved – which increases the fund raising. This year Borcherding Buick GMC is sponsoring a Borcherding Buick GMC Punt for Pink Challenge during halftime. One student from each high school will be selected to attempt to kick a football into the back of a pickup truck. If they are successful, they will win $5,000 for their school and $5000 for Pink Ribbon Girls. To be eligible, students must wear their Loveland/Kings pink shirt to the game.
There is also a Rumble for the Ribbon trophy that goes home with the winning school for this game.
“These pink games are a great way for communities to come together to honor all those that have been impacted by breast cancer,” said Middleton. Some schools honor survivors down on the field, others will do balloon releases prior to the games. There are many opportunities for students to get involved with the games. The Loveland Student Council and the Kings Community Service groups are both helping with the tee-shirt sales. “It is amazing to look into the stands on game night and see all the students and fans in pink,” said Middleton The cheerleaders wear the tee-shirts over their uniforms and are provided pink pom poms. “It is a such a fun and inspiring event. At this time, we have 11 pink football games taking place over a 5-week period.”
Middleton said that all of the money raised by pink games stays here in our community to support women battling breast and other women’s reproductive cancers. Pink Ribbon Girls provides FREE healthy meals, housecleaning, transportation to treatment and peer support. Last year, they shipped 35,000 meals to families in the Cincinnati and Dayton area, provided 415 housecleanings, and 569 rides to treatment.
These services are not income based.
Here is a video by a Kings student last year to highlight several of the pink games:
Please check out their website, www.pinkribbongirls.org for more information about the organization.
