When the ball goes up Friday at the East Jessamine vs. West Jessamine girls’ basketball game, the crowd will likely be “Thinking Pink.”
A pink game ball will be used at the tip-off of “Think Pink” weekend — two days of athletic events in the county that will put the focus on breast-cancer awareness.
The weekend is sponsored by Saint Joseph-Jessamine RJ Corman Ambulatory Care Center. The high-school boys’ and girls’ teams will wear pink T-shirts during warm-ups, as will the Asbury University men’s and women’s teams in games against the St. Louis College of Pharmacy on Saturday. The Asbury women’s game will also feature the pink ball.
Bart Flener, an assistant principal at Jessamine Career and Technology Center and the Asbury women’s basketball coach, approached the care center about partnering in the event, Saint Joseph-Jessamine administrator Chris Bowe said.
“We think any opportunity to raise awareness for breast cancer is a good opportunity,” Bowe said.
Saint Joseph Hospital’s Oncology Center is also helping with the festivities, Bowe said, and will be available to help people learn about prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
“People will have an opportunity to walk up and sit down and chat with an educator who can give them some information about self-tests for breast cancer,” Bowe said. “I think we’ll also have some other types of cancer awareness, as well, so we really just want to make sure that people have a resource to call if they have any question about themselves or a family member and they need a contact to figure out the best avenue for additional information.”
Pink T-shirts will be available for purchase, with the proceeds donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
The East-West girls’ game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday; the boys are set to take the court at 7:45 p.m.
Asbury’s games against St. Louis College of Pharmacy are Saturday, with the women at 2 p.m. and the men at 4 p.m.
