Getting Thursday night's breast cancer benefit together was something of a
last-minute decision, but after a hectic week and a half of organizing and with the help of the Sachem commmunity, Sachem East's JV2 girls volleyball team hosted the event in their pinked-out, packed-out gym at East High School.
"It was packed out as much as a back gym can be," said East coach Ashley Marchese, laughing. "At least 100 or so people."
As part of the Dig Pink initiative sponsored by the Side Out Foundation, Marchese said her team was inspired by a similar event they had seen at Brentwood, complete with a DJ to keep the crowd engaged.
Squeezing the event within the last days of October to coincide with breast cancer awareness month (signified by the color pink that was everywhere from the game ball to the East team's hair, in some cases), East hustled up the necessary connections to make it happen: North JV2 girls coach Allie Bourgal brought her team and helped spread the word to bring North fans to the match, of which East won two games (first game, 25-11 East; second game, 25-23 North; third game, 25-20 East).
Pink Sachem T-shirts, procured by Sachem wrestling coaching legend Jack Mahoney of J&G Awards and Sports, were sold at the event for $15 each. Mahoney, who sells a lot of Sachem apparel, remarked at how difficult it was to find the shirts in pink and in the needed sizes. He finally found a source in Seattle that could make the order.
"Just a week before, I had got the shirts for the SETA breast cancer walk at Jones Beach," he said. "But then every place was out of pink shirts. We had to scramble a bit, but we got it done. We're happy to help out whenever we can."
And of course, they got their own DJ for the event. Pat Williamson, a Pat-Med native who nonetheless donned a Sachem shirt for the event, according to Marchese.
"There's a lot of dead air in volleyball games," she said. "But he would fill it up and talk about the T-shirts too. It definitely wasn't your regular volleyball game."
Along with a bake sale that included brownies and cupcakes decorated with pink ribbons, the T-shirt proceeds went toward the Side Out Foundation, a non-profit organization formed in 2004 to "unite volleyball players and coaches and to have them work toward the common goal of furthering breast cancer awareness, education and patient services," according to the mission statement on its Website.
Dig Pink rallies are happening nationwide, even beyond the month of October. After Friday's senior night, when Marchese hopes to sell the last few remaining T-shirts, she said the projected funds raised will total nearly $300.
On a personal note, Marchese's mother is a breast cancer survivor.
"They caught it very early," she said. "She didn't have to go through chemo or anything, so we were very lucky."
To find out more about the Side Out Foundation and its Dig Pink rallies, go to www.side-out-org.
