Relay for Redhawks to help cancer research
Uniforms, shoes, balls, shin guards, starting blocks - before any team can strive to reach its potential, a financial investment must be made for such essentials.
For some students, that extra cost can be out of reach.
To help students cover those costs so they can get out on the field and develop their athletic skills, parents of football players at Naperville Central High School began a new program last year.
The Rick Jeffers Athletes in Need Fund pays tribute to a parent and Booster Club member remembered for his dedication to Naperville Central sports, said Peter Shamburek, president of the NCHS Athletic Booster Club. Jeffers died last March after a battle with colon cancer.
Shamburek said the football parents collectively approached the club with an initial donation of $500, seeking the group's support to help make the fund grow. The Booster Club responded.
"We are doing a new event this year. It's called the Relay for Redhawks. It's fashioned loosely after the Relay for Life," he said.
Relay for Life is an annual fundraising event for the American Cancer Society in cities all over the country. Participants run relays, in tag-team fashion, to raise money for cancer research.
Relay for Redhawks, set for 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26, will raise money for the Rick Jeffers fund and for the Booster Club's general funds, Shamburek said.
Teams can have six to 20 members each, said Laura Riordan, event co-chairwoman. During the six-hour event, each team will have members on the track.
"They're walking, running, whatever they want to do," she said.
The relay events on the track generate cash through pledged donations and through donations made by the students themselves, Riordan said.
She said the club hopes to donate about $5,000 to the Rick Jeffers Athletes in Need Fund.
"If we could raise $5,000, we'd be thrilled, being this is a new fundraiser," she said.
Riordan said Central students play about 30 school-sponsored sports.
"Every sport that they do there, we support," she said.
Riordan said the club hopes to have 10 to 15 teams signed up for the event. The first 200 people to register will receive a free T-shirt, she said.
Water and breakfast food items will be available in the morning; concessions will be for sale from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Music will be provided by a disc jockey.
"We want the whole school to participate," Riordan said.
If you go
What: Relay for Redhawks
Who: Naperville Central High School Athletic Booster Club
When: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 26
Where: Memorial Stadium at Naperville Central High School, 440 W. Aurora Ave.
Cost: $30 per person
Info: (630) 305-4717