For the 7th consecutive year, the girls volleyball teams at Liberty Charter High School (LCHS) are dedicating their games to breast cancer awareness. This year’s Block Out Cancer Night was Tuesday, October 17. All proceeds from the evening go to support a local family currently battling breast cancer.
The LCHS girl’s volleyball teams raised $1750 for Bonnie Coppersmith, an LCHS family member currently affected by breast cancer. The volleyball players showed their support by wearing pink during their games, and by giving each person in the audience affected by breast cancer a pink flower.
Volleyball Head Coach Bethany Gaut said, “I am excited about our Block Out Cancer night because I want to bless our hurting families! We all know someone who has been affected by this disease and how it can take a toll on a family. If we can come alongside and relieve even a little of that pressure then we have done what we set out to do: reach beyond ourselves, rise up, and care for each other!”
Block Out Cancer night began in 2011 under LCHS’s first girls’ volleyball coach, Rob Johnston. The coach and his wife, Kari – a breast cancer survivor herself – had participated in a Susan G. Komen Foundation 3-day walk, which inspired Johnston to create an event for his players to recognize breast cancer survivors and those who had lost someone to the disease. After “starting off small with just socks and doing a little something during the game,” said Coach Johnston, the annual fundraiser has since raised thousands of dollars to fight breast cancer and support families in facing the disease. Many area businesses have gotten on board, donating valuable goods and services that were given away or raffled off during the evening.
