Hoops for Hope

...was a good cause. Because the Uintah Basin is so far from good cancer treatment, to get treatment is an entire day's event. When people have to go every other day, or every day it gets costly as well. Hoops for Hope was a charity program run by the high school to help raise money for the "cancer van" to run daily trips from Vernal to the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City. It was a success. 

The high school boys and girls basketball teams got money for every point they scored, the students 'chucked their change' and the radio station that I work for had an on-air auction of Utah Jazz items and a 2-ball competition in which each point a member of our staff or other participant scored was worth money. I was asked to participate and I joyfully said yes. My donors offered $20 cash, $5 a point and another at $1 a point. Because my teammate and I scored 36 points in 90 seconds we raised over $200 in donations. It was awesome. The van is now up and running.

A side note, Kristin first wrote about this fundraiser for the Vernal Express and so we call it a family effort. A good event that can make anyone feel good. Check out Vernal dot com and read up on it. You may have to search "hoops for hope."

The event was last Friday and the picture above was taken right before my partner and I began. We scored 36 which was the most until the last round when two teams got into the 40's. We got to participate in front of the entire Uintah High School student body during their pep rally. The drill team took state, so it was also a celebration of that. The drill team perormed three times and the my partner, Charles, who is native american (and the national champion of hoop dancing) also performed later during the pep rally.

The girls basketball team lost in their first round playoff game, but the boys won. So they get to play in the quarter-finals at the E-Center. Good Luck Utes. (Uintah Utes, not U of U)