The Mattituck High School girls varsity and junior varsity volleyball teams donned pink in the annual “Dig Pink” event Thursday, a national breast cancer awareness rally.
Dig Pink, said Kim Prokop, whose daughter Hannah is a cancer survivor and attends Matittuck High School, is the name of the Side-Out Foundation’s national event, held every October so that volleyball teams across the country can raise funds and awareness.
“Each year they hold a bake sale and ‘go pink — wearing pink shirts in lieu of their normal jerseys — as a team to honor those who have or are still fighting breast cancer, raise awareness, and raise funds to help fight the disease. Each team member was fighting for someone they knew and loved that had cancer — an aunt, a grandfather, or a friend,” Prokop said.
This year the team honored three immediate family members who are cancer survivors — Susan Becker, Tracey Orlando, and Hannah Prokop, “who each fought and survived a different type of cancer,” Prokop said.
The teams raised $350 for the Side-Out Foundation, and won the game against Southampton.
A generous donation helped the girls wear new pink jerseys this year.
Most important, said one survivor at the game, was raising awareness. “Breast exams are the only way that you can guarantee yourself another birthday. Don’t be a victim,” she said.
