Sept. 9, 2015

When the University of South Carolina takes the field against Kentucky on September 12th, their coaches and players will kick off the third annual Curing Kids Cancer awareness campaign.

This campaign highlights National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September. Cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death for children. Gold is the official color for childhood cancer awareness.

Gamecock players and coaches will both wear Curing Kids Cancer glow-in-the-dark wristbands while coaches will wear golf whistles and Curing Kids Cancer lanyards. Fans can support their teams by wearing the same stickers, wristbands and whistles, which can be purchased at curingkidscancer.org/blowthewhistle.

In honor of the support from the University of South Carolina, Curing Kids Cancer will make a donation to fund pediatric cancer research at Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital in Columbia, South Carolina.

Building on the initial success of the last two campaigns, the number of teams participating in this year’s awareness campaign has grown significantly for the third year in a row. Eight SEC teams are participating. Also taking on pediatric cancer as well as their opponents are:

September 12 – Louisiana State University at Mississippi State

September 19 – at University of Georgia vs. University of South Carolina (both teams participating)

September 19 – at Vanderbilt vs. Austin Peay

September 19 – at Alabama vs. Ole Miss

September 19 – at Mississippi State vs. Northwestern State

September 19 — at University of Tennessee vs. Western Carolina

September 26 – at Texas A&M vs. Arkansas

“As Chairman of Curing Kids Cancer, I’m very happy to see so many of these college football coaches and players stepping up to raise awareness about childhood cancer,” said ESPN GameDay commentator Lee Corso. “It’s fantastic that so many teams are supporting this great cause. We all want to tackle kids’ cancer and kick it into the end zone, making it a thing of the past.”

“These teams and coaches are under a tremendous amount of pressure to perform at the highest levels,” said the charity spokesman for the campaign `Mr. College Football’ and SEC Network Commentator Tony Barnhart. Tony is also a member of the Curing Kids Cancer Executive Advisory Board. “What a wonderful testament to their desire to help eradicate these horrible diseases that they would not only join the cause, but do so in ever-increasing numbers. It’s another example of how the college football community can be such a great example and a formidable force for good.”

“It is so exciting that Curing Kids Cancer was given the blessing of the SEC and they encouraged the head coaches to partner with their players, coaches and fans to help children with cancer,” said Grainne Owen, founder and executive director of Curing Kids Cancer. “We hope the team’s efforts to raise awareness of the desperate need for funding childhood cancer will motivate their fans to support them. Fans can go to our website and buy the same stickers, wristbands and whistles their teams are wearing or simply make a donation. If they visit the College Football Hall of Fame during September, one dollar of their ticket cost will go to Curing Kids Cancer!”

“This is the game we try to bring awareness to a wonderful charity called `Curing Kids Cancer’,” said University of South Carolina head football coach Steve Spurrier. “Obviously, it’s something we all would like to pitch in and do our part to help. I’m sure we’d all like to do our best to help eradicate this disease someday.”

In 2014 Curing Kids Cancer provided more than $1 million in funding for cutting-edge research projects that may eventually make traditional chemotherapy obsolete. Over the past ten years, the organization has raised more than $7 million for pediatric cancer research.

About Curing Kids Cancer

Grainne and Clay Owen created curing Kids Cancer after losing their son Killian to leukemia in 2003 at age nine. Curing Kids Cancer raises money and awareness to fund innovative research that provides cutting edge treatments to children with cancer. The non-profit has raised more than $7 million for pediatric cancer research since being founded in 2005. More information is available at curingkidscancer.org