The Cooper Foundation’s Dink for a Cure event will be held at the Players Courtyard Pickleball Club in Moorestown at 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 11.
The evening will include raffle baskets, food and pickleball, and all proceeds benefit the Pink Roses Teal Magnolias Fund at MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper. Dink refers to a shot made in pickleball.
“I am a breast cancer survivor and Cooper has been instrumental in my care, and I’m super excited to be able to give back to the organization that helped me through the process,” said event co-host Mandy Huggard.
“Raising a lot of money is definitely first and foremost, and then obviously having a great time, getting a great group of people together at a fun event … Maybe we can hook some people into it, and those that play (pickleball) should come and have a really fun evening.”
Pink & Teal is described as the power of hope and the strength of sisterhood inspired by the work of MD Anderson at Cooper. Since 2010, the Cooper Foundation’s Pink Roses Teal Magnolias Fund has raised money for breast and gynecological cancer clinical and research programs at MD Anderson, according to the Cooper Foundation website.
The fund is unique in that it raises money for both breast and gynecological cancer and all donations to Pink & Teal stay local, namely at MD Anderson. Donations support research, complementary medicine, innovative technology, support services, Pink & Teal’s Survivor Program and the Patient in Need fund that assists patients in financial distress with transportation to appointments, child care, prescription co-pays and other immediate needs.
Donations also help women on their cancer journey with research and clinical trials to improve patients’ lives, advance new treatment options and help find a cure for women’s cancers; new treatments and therapies, years before they become standard in the community; and advanced diagnostic technologies that make cancer easier to detect, among other services.
“I don’t think there’s anyone that can say that they haven’t been affected by cancer one way or another, either personally or with somebody that they knew,” noted Dink for a Cure co-host Mary Ryan. “It affects everyone. If you come out, it gives you a feeling that you’re doing something positive for a wonderful cause, and it’s going to be a fun night for sure.
“Dink for a Cure is a great way for people to come together for a really great cause,” Ryan added. “For people that play pickleball, they have an opportunity to do that and give towards the MD Anderson Center at Cooper, and then people that don’t (play) pickleball, they can still have fun there …
“It’ll just be a really nice Saturday evening for a great cause.”
For more information or to register for Dink for a Cure, visit https://foundation.cooperhealth.org/get-involved/events/.
