43
CHS soccer goes all out for Pink Out
Photo
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Canfield FC U12 team members, from left, Gisellie Francis, Sabrina Goodrich and Alli Malinky, showed their support at the Canfield High School girls junior varsity team’s game during the Pink Out Oct. 9.
Photo
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Canfield High School seniors and varsity soccer players Maleck Saleh and Sophia Mancini organized Pink Outs for their National Honor Society service projects during the boys junior varsity and varsity soccer games Oct. 7 and the girls junior varsity and varsity games Oct. 9.
By ABBY SLANKER
Canfield High School seniors and varsity soccer players Sophia Mancini and Maleck Saleh wanted to focus on breast cancer awareness for their National Honor Society service projects, so they organized a Pink Out during the boys junior varsity and varsity soccer games Oct. 7 and the girls junior varsity and varsity games Oct. 9.
Team captains Mancini and Saleh sold pink T-shirts during lunch periods and at the soccer games leading up to the Pink Outs. The T-shirts were donated by the Danielle Marie Hodge YSU Scholarship Fund, and by the time of the events, they had sold out.
Through the Pink Outs, Saleh, son of Dr. Ayman and Heidi Saleh, and Mancini, daughter of Frank and Lori Mancini, raised money for Yellow Brick Place, a cancer wellness center for the tri-county area. Yellow Brick Place, founded by President Donna Detwiler and Vice President Anna Aey provides support to cancer survivors, families and caregivers. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the T-shirts were donated to Yellow Brick Place.
“One of the founders of Yellow Brick Place worked for my dad as a nurse. We are family friends. So, Sophia and I figured why not raise money for the organization and bring awareness to breast cancer during one of our October soccer games. We had lots of people willing to contribute and, as a bonus, we like to wear pink,” Saleh said.
Players on both the boys junior varsity and varsity and girls junior varsity and varsity wore donated pink jerseys for their respective games.
“Our players are wearing their Pink Out jerseys tonight. Maleck and I thought the Pink Outs would be a great way for the players and fans to bring awareness and we were able to do it during our soccer season since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month,” Mancini said.
Sponsors and donors included Canfield Soccer Boosters, Danielle Marie Hodge Memorial Scholarship, Davis International, Inc., Eagle Wear, Inc., Eye Care Associates, Fusillo Flooring Company, Howard Hanna Realty, Susan Colla-Morgione, In Memory of Evelyn Gelonese, Jim’s Brushless Car Wash, The Kidney Group, Inc., the Mancini family, Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, Ayman Saleh, M.D., Trolio’s of Boardman, The UPS Store, the Campana family, Chick-Fil-A Southern Park Mall, the Lewis Family, Pop Lumsden, the Petracci Family, ROCCK Children’s Choir, the Shaer family, the Vicarel family, Whitehouse Fruit Farm, Baker’s Golden Dairy and Girard Dunkin Donuts.
Canfield Soccer Boosters donated pink bandanas for the first 150 Canfield fans at each game. Soccer parents made cookies and cupcakes decorated with the event in mind, with pink ribbons and icing. The stadium’s scoreboard was also in the spirit of the Pink Out, as the background was turned pink.
Prior to the games, there were introductions of varsity players with each dedicating the game to a cancer patient. The R.O.C.C.K. Children’s Choir sang the National Anthem after the introduction of players. During the game, the Chick-Fil-A cow mascot from Southern Park Mall was in attendance with a wheel of prizes, and during half-time of the varsity game, FC Canfield youth soccer players had a short game on the field.
For more information on The Yellow Brick House, contact Aey at 330-518-1478 or Detwiler at 330-770-0808, email info@yellowbrickplace.org or visit www.yellowbrickplace.org.