Nowadays all high school athletic teams have a game/match to raise awareness for breast cancer research. Even football teams will wear pink wristbands to commemorate the occasion.
Bonita High School senior volleyball standout Riley Inman is taking the fight against breast cancer personally. She is spearheading the school’s sixth annual Dig Pink fundraiser which will take place during the Bearcats matches against South Hills on Tuesday.
“I really wanted to do this,” said Riley, who has been working on the event since the summer. “Everybody has been touched by this disease and I wanted to try and make a difference.”
Riley lost an aunt to the disease seven years ago. The event is dedicated to Sandy Boulware, a member of the LaVerne community who has two daughters who have attended Bonita and lost her fight with breast cancer over the summer.
Riley’s goal was to raise $5,000 but by Monday night she had already earned $6,000, thanks largely to a personal donation of $2,600 by one individual. Now she’s hoping to generate $10,000.
The biggest task has been gathering donations for a raffle and for gift baskets which will be a big part of the event. Proceeds from food and concession items as well money generated from the sale of pink items such as wristbands and necklaces will also go toward the Side Out Foundation.
There will also be a slide show profiling breast cancer survivors as well as some who have lost their battle with the disease.
The freshmen teams from the schools square off at 3 p.m., with the junior varsity teams following at 4:30 p.m. The varsity match will start about 6 p.m.
