“Help Tackle Pediatric Cancer” Football Fundraiser on September 19 Benefits Play Fit-Stay Fit! Program

The Seawolves football home opener on Saturday, September 19, at 6:00 pm against Brown University is more than a kickoff to the season. A portion of each ticket sold will benefit the Sunrise Fund, which promotes awareness about childhood cancer and raises funds for several special initiatives at Stony Brook University Medical Center and its Pediatric Oncology Program. The game will also provide many pediatric oncology patients their first opportunity to watch their favorite Stony Brook student-athletes in action. 

Proceeds from this year’s game will support Play Fit-Stay Fit!, a comprehensive wellness program for children who have survived cancer and their families.Children who survive cancer are often left with numerous physical, emotional, social, and cognitive concerns. In addition, the lives of their parents and siblings are often dramatically affected as well.

Play Fit-Stay Fit! provides physical activity, nutritional education, and psychosocial counseling in a fun, friendly groupenvironment for these children and their families. Services are provided by physical therapists, exercise physiologists, nutritionists, and social workers. This Sunrise Fund-supported program is free of charge.

Play It Forward Program Patients Will See Student-Athletes in Action
The game will also provide many pediatric oncology patients with their first opportunity to watch their heroes in action thanks to the Play It Forward Program. Introduced this past spring, the Play It Forward Program was created to enrich the lives of children who come to the Stony Brook University Cancer Center for treatment.

Student-athletes from the football team volunteer to visit the Cancer Center on a weekly basis. Athletes and patients interact, talk, and play on days when the child is receiving treatment. These encounters help ease the burden of treatment for the children and their parents, and provide the student-athletes with a strong sense of giving back. The student-athletes are encouraged to continue contact with the children in an effort to foster friendships and build a sense of team.

Arranging this program was a collaborative effort. Assistant Football Coach Greg Toop was the impetus for the program. He felt his players would be a positive influence and brighten the lives of the children. Sharing his idea with Debbie Giugliano, NP, nurse practitioner for the unit, she thought of the perfect name, Play It Forward, and developed the training and guidelines with her colleagues. Child Life Specialist Lauren Sharaby arranged the schedules and activities for those involved. The program is supervised by professionals from the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, the Cancer Center, Child Life, Play Fit-Stay Fit!, and Athletics.

Complimentary tickets for this special day are available to the patients and their families. Please send all requests to info@playfitstayfit.org. Tickets for all others can be purchased online at www.goseawolves.org.