Pat Ricard, Medical Assisting Instructor at Ross College in Sylvania, was the organizer of the 1st Annual Baskets of Care softball tournament this summer. The tournament was held on July 25th, 26th, and 27th. A total of seven teams participated; there were three U12 teams and four U14 teams. The tournament was Round Robin style where each team played all the others and then there was a single elimination final game. Each participating team paid a fee and Ross students and staff sold concessions and 50/50 tickets.
Baskets of Care is an organization that helps newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. Their mission, as stated on their website, is “to provide help and hope to people newly diagnosed with breast cancer, helping them traverse the confusing and frightening journey through radiation, chemotherapy, surgery. and recovery.” One program they have provides peer support to patients from volunteers who are also breast cancer survivors. They also provide “baskets of care” to patients. These are given as gifts to patients from their support team which includes their doctor and the survivor assigned as a support to them. The baskets contain important contact information, educational materials regarding diagnosis, surgery, and follow-up care, and various other products.
In the end, Sylvania was able to donate $1000 to Baskets of Care; this will provide approximately 20 comfort bags. There were 14 students that helped from the Medical Billing and Office Administration, Medical Assisting, and Dental Assisting programs. They all were enthusiastic about the event, sharing that they had a lot of fun and would like to do more things like this. All the teams were very excited about the tournament and had special shirts made up it. Everyone is looking forward to next year and the campus has made their goal to have at least 12 teams and to raise $5000.00.
You can find more information and photos of this and other events on the Baskets of Care Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BasketsOfCare.