COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT // The Breakaways Raise $4,000 for Breast Cancer with a Hockey Game

From Tasha:

I volunteered for B4BC at X Games Aspen and was blown away by everything this organization does for women and girls of all ages. I had done a prostate cancer awareness hockey game in college and it was amazing, and thought it would be just as awesome if my women’s hockey team did breast cancer awareness game! The Vail Breakaways is a women’s ice hockey team in The Vail Valley that has been around since 1977 and has had its fair share with breast cancer. When I first started thinking about this game and all its possibilities, I was a little overwhelmed and didn’t quite know how to make this game a success. I had all these ideas for pink jerseys,  pink laces and tape but I didn’t know how to afford it all.

I was talking about everything with my mom and she had the idea to have named sponsors who would support us financially, making it possible to get the jerseys and advertise for the event. I was able to get five local business to sponsor us: Jerry Sibley Plumbing, Select Surfaces, Mount N’ Frame, West Vail Liquors and Castle Peak Veterinarian, but they were not the only people or businesses to help out. From there we decided to make it a fundraiser with a donation jar, silent auction and even the opportunity to win a date with a hockey player!  I was on a serious time crunch to make all this possible in less than three weeks, and luckily Dobson Ice Arena was incredibly accommodating and helped us out in any way they could. The Vail Daily, our local newspaper, was also an amazing factor in getting our name out there with full-page ads three days in a row!

The day of the event was crazy. I had to work before the game so getting to Dobson in time to set up the silent auction and door donation table and our three educational tables for our beneficiaries: Boarding For Breast Cancer, Duchess Ride and Pink Vail associated with Shaw Regional Cancer Center. So many of my teammates showed up early to help set everything up, which was amazing. The extra jerseys we were selling were gone by the first period, and we even started auctioning off the jerseys we were playing in! The highest sold jersey went for $250, and the second and third highest were sold at $170 and $140! We were thrilled that people were buying our jerseys for so much.

The game was a donation based entry with a suggested donation of only $7 and from that alone we raised over $1,000.  Then, the silent auction and “Win a Date with a Hockey Player” raised over $1,000 each! The rest came from selling our jerseys we were wearing. Collectively from the whole night we were able to raise a little over $4,000 for our three beneficiaries.

I couldn’t have been happier with the turnout and how amazing everyone involved was. It wouldn’t have been possible without the support from the entire Breakaways team, Dobson, The Vail Daily, our sponsors, and the whole valley for contributing to our cause. It was such a huge success that everyone is already talking about how we can add to it and make it better for next year!