UPEI’s tenth annual Shoot for the Cure, November 26!

Charlottetown, PEI (November 18, 2016)—UPEI Athletics and Recreation are hosting the tenth annual Shoot for the Cure fundraiser Saturday, November 26. The UPEI Women's Basketball team will host the Memorial Seahawks with a tip off of 6:00 pm.

Shoot for the Cure is a fundraising initiative led by University Sport's Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) to raise money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, and other related charities. The campaign has proven an overwhelming success since it was launched in the fall of 2007, having collected over $1 million in donations. This season, and for the sixth year in a row, all 47 University Sport women's basketball schools are set to participate in the program.

At the 2016 CIS championship last March, the WBCA presented a cheque for $98,776 to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. An additional $25,837 was amassed by universities that donated their fundraised money to local or provincial organizations, bringing the overall Shoot for the Cure total for the 2015–16 season to $124,613.

The entire Panther team is involved in the local fundraising effort, this year led by fourth-year student-athlete Kiera Rigby. The team hopes to be achieve their $2000 fundraising goal through selling Shoot for the Cure t-shirts, collecting donations, holding a bake sale. Some players have also set individual fundraising goals.

"We each have our individual reasons, but are united by our desire to take care of one another and find a cure for this disease," said Rigby. "If we can help even one individual, it is well worth the effort. In addition to our team's efforts, I am donating my hair to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths campaign that makes wigs for women who have lost their hair as a result of cancer treatment. This is in honour of my grandmother, Sandra McNeilly who passed away fighting cancer, as too many others have." 

Rigby will have her hair cut and donate over eight inches of hair to a Canadian Cancer Society representative during halftime at the UPEI Men's Basketball game that same evening.

"The UPEI Women's Basketball team is pleased to again be taking part in the U-Sport National Shoot For The Cure campaign in support of breast cancer research," says head coach Greg Gould. "Our players always look forward to this game and work hard to ensure its success. I hope our fans and the entire Island community come out to support this worthy cause!"

To donate to Kiera Rigby's campaign, click on her Canada Helps page or find it on her Facebook profile.