The Pineapple Volleyball Club held its first annual Pink Crush Classic volleyball tournament this week. The event featured 124 youth volleyball teams from all over Indiana and the Midwest. The event showcased awesome talent, extraordinary teamwork, and a commitment to community.
Tournament proceeds and a portion of merchandise sales went to the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer. The Vera Bradley foundation is a 501(c)3 organization that raises money for breast cancer research. To date, more than $20 million has been contributed towards finding a cure since the foundation was formed in 1993. We need a cure. Breast cancer has affected just about every person and every family in some way. One in eight women in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. One in eight! Think about 8 women in your life and know that at least one of them will get that dreaded breast cancer diagnosis at some point. I know that you are not surprised by these numbers. Breast Cancer awareness has greatly improved over the last ten years and we now see pink everywhere. It is a popular cause to support and we could go into a long discussion about the organizations and companies that support the cause for the wrong reasons. That is what makes the Vera Bradley Foundation so amazing. They put their money where their mouth is. 87 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to research. And in their words “we don’t just fund research, we fund results.”
Our volunteer experience was easy. Erica worked the front desk and greeted tournament goers while accepting entry fees. I worked the Vera Bradley table where players and families could sign up for the “Serve the Zone” competition. All funds raised from the ball serving competition went directly to VB. We are not sure how much money was raised over the total weekend. We were just glad that we could help out.
