Back in early February, the Rudyard Bulldogs varsity basketball team battled the Pickford Panthers in their first Hooping for a Cure charity game.
While the boys battled it out on the Rudyard home court, money was being raised for the MyMichigan Medical Sault's Road to Recovery program. It is all volunteer and donation-based.
For over a decade and a half, it has been an extremely vital service in the Eastern Upper Peninsula by providing free transportation, Monday through Friday, to those who need chemotherapy treatments from Sault Ste. Marie to McLaren Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey.
Today, the two schools presented a check for over $15,000 to the Road to Recovery program.
Representing Rudyard were Jim Suggitt and Cam Peterson, while Matt Johnson and Braylon Rounds were there for Pickford.
"We are thankful the communities came together and came to support this game and program," Rounds said.
Peterson echoed that.
"We are willing to give back and help out to anybody that needs it. We are thankful the communities came together and supported this," Peterson said.
The two schools spent a lot of time preparing for the game getting sponsors and getting the word out.
"Everybody gets busy and so it is hard to get schedules together to do the things that need to get done. But when you get people to work together like these two schools did, you can get a lot done," Suggitt said.
With a lot of organizations to donate to, this one was a no-brainer for Suggitt.
"We picked Road to Recovery to donate the money to because we wanted the money to stay in the area. There are a lot of people that use this service and I think it is underfunded," Suggitt added.
MyMichigan Road to Recovery representative Jazell Raycraft is happy to see the younger people taking the initiative to help out with programs like theirs.
"It's so important that people learn from a young age about giving and being part of a community and know that friends, family and their community need their help and that they are willing to do it is a huge thing and I think that is a great lesson to learn as kids grow," Raycraft explained.
"Many of the athletes have felt the effects of cancer personally in someway with a family member or friend, so this is important to them," Johnson said.
Raycraft said a portion of this donation will be used to purchase another van. The older of the two current vans needs to be replaced soon.
