The SJC Brooklyn women’s volleyball team is setting an example, raising more than $2,000 for breast cancer research.
Carol Melo ’23
The team raised $2,050 for the Side-Out Foundation, a non-profit organization that encourages the volleyball community drive change and improve breast cancer treatments. The women blew away their original fundraising goal of $1,000.
The team began fundraising in late August, ahead of its Oct. 3 “Dig Pink” game against Sarah Lawrence College.
Carol Melo, a freshman libero and outside hitter on the team, started the campaign on the Side-Out Foundation website as a way to help her team raise as much money as possible. The team also sold bracelets for the cause.
“Raising money for this cause is important to me because this is the least funded area of cancer,” said Melo, who played a large role in organizing her team’s fundraiser. “Many people I know have relatives that have been affected by breast cancer, so I want to try to get the most money raised to help towards this cause.”
Last month, the team entered a contest sponsored by Sport Imports — an Ohio-based sporting goods manufacturer and supplier company — when it reached its fundraising goal of $1,000. The company matched the team’s $1,000 and provided them with a special volleyball net tape used during the game.
Melo, a nursing major, said she was proud of her team’s fundraiser.
“It felt amazing having a lot of people support my fundraiser,” Melo said after the “Dig Pink” game. “All of those people who donated and showed up to the game were supporting the Side-Out Foundation. Hopefully, this will push more research to be completed for stage four breast cancer. I hope next year more people will donate and we can raise more money.”
