March 5, 2015
VISIT THE STRIKEOUT CANCER MICROSITE HERE
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame softball team is encouraging interested parties to partner with the Irish during the fifth annual Strikeout Cancer weekend, which will take place from April 17 through April 19 around the South Bend community.
The 2015 Strikeout Cancer celebration is set to begin on Friday, April 17 with the popular trivia night at the St. Joe Farm, 52682 Currant Road in Granger. Check-in for the event is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET), with trivia rounds set to begin at 7:30.
Individuals and local businesses are invited to sponsor a trivia round for $250 per round, or a trivia table for $100 per table. Teams of 10 are welcome to register at the cost of $200 per table.
Participants are encouraged to bring their own food and snacks for “tailgate style” eating throughout the evening. Light snacks will be provided, and beer and wine will be for sale. All proceeds continue to directly benefit children and families at Memorial Children’s Hospital that are leading the fight against cancer.
Notre Dame softball began its Strikeout Cancer initiative in 2011 to support head coach Deanna Gumpf and her daughter, Tatum, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia during the summer of 2010. Tatum has remained in remission since the fall of 2012, and is on track to make a full recovery.
During the inaugural Strikeout Cancer weekend in 2011, the Irish softball team raised more than $12,000 for cancer awareness. Notre Dame doubled that amount in 2012, with a total of $25,355.62 raised during the weekend-long celebration. The 2012 figure led the nation in funds raised among all softball programs participating in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s (NFCA) StrikeOut Cancer initiative.
Notre Dame softball continued to set the gold standard across the nation during the 2013 Strikeout Cancer weekend, bringing in more than $40,000 to directly aid pediatric cancer patients. With an additional $30,000 raised by Strikeout Cancer in 2014, total proceeds from the first four years of the annual event have climbed over $100,000.
Donations toward Strikeout Cancer have funded a number of projects since 2011, including paying lodging for a family to stay in Bloomington with a child receiving radiation therapy, a `wish day’ (shopping, spa day, flowers) and `wish trips’ for cancer patients, back-to-school backpacks filled with school supplies, birthday gift cards for all patients receiving cancer treatment at South Bend’s Memorial Children’s Hospital, and two play rooms added to the pediatric hematology and oncology clinic at Memorial Children’s Hospital.
For more information about Notre Dame softball’s Strikeout Cancer Trivia Night, contact director of operations Kasey O’Connor at 574-631-3750 (koconn17@nd.edu).
For the latest news and updates on all things Notre Dame softball, visit www.und.com/softball, follow the Irish @NDsoftball and @NDcoachGumpf on Twitter and at Instagram.com/notredamesoftball, and Like the team at Facebook.com/NDSoftball.