The Student Activities Office (SAO) at the University of Maine at Presque Isle is encouraging people to “Think Pink” for breast cancer awareness during a special event on Wednesday, Feb. 9.
During the home basketball games between the UMPI Owls and the University of Maine at Machias Clippers at 5:30 p.m. in Wieden Gymnasium, the SAO will host “Think Pink: Breast Cancer Awareness Night” in honor of Cancer Awareness Month in February.
The SAO, in conjunction with resident assistants, the UMPI dance team, and a variety of students and campus leaders, will be raising money at the event in a number of different ways, including a $1/point match effort – up to 100 points per game – and will recognize donors at various points throughout the games. Governor’s Restaurant is serving as a co-sponsor for the point match. The SAO also will be hosting a 50/50 drawing and selling pink mini-basketballs with the Blue Crew logo on them and pink Blue Crew T-shirts. The Blue Crew is UMPI’s student athletics booster club. The goal is to raise at least $700 during the “Think Pink” event. All proceeds from the overall event will be donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
To kick off the event, a special a cappella group – which includes UMPI staffers Suzanne Beaudet, Mary Lawrence and April Sue Platt, UMPI alum Kent Kinney and community member Joshua Doughty – will be singing the National Anthem. All UMPI basketball players will be wearing pink shoestrings during their games and the UMPI Dance Team will be “all pinked out” for a special dance routine with pink poms.
A unique fundraising portion of the evening includes the auctioning off of several decorated bras. Last semester, the SAO provided members of the campus community with several bras and asked them to decorate them in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. On Feb. 9, those bras will be sold to the highest bidders. Several UMPI male students will be modeling the auction items and the bras will be auctioned off two at a time – during the half-time of the women’s game, the break between the two games, and the half-time of the men’s game.
“We’re doing this in the hopes that our community can show visible as well as monetary support to those who have been impacted by breast cancer,” April Sue Platt, UMPI’s Area Coordinator of Student Activities, said. “We would love to see as many members of the community as possible attend this event.”
For more information about this “Think Pink” event, please contact April Sue Platt at 768-9582 or april.platt@maine.edu.
