The volleyball team dug deep for their annual Dig Pink event on Oct. 9 in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“Dig Pink is the volleyball team’s way of supporting and helping raise money for breast cancer,” Ken Talcott, coach, said.

The goal for this year’s game was to raise $10,000 for the Side Out Foundation

“The Side Out Foundation is a non-profit organization that raises money through charitable contributions for the awareness and treatment of metastatic breast cancer,” said Kim Hoeven, Dig Pink organizer and team mom.

To raise the money, the team held a raffle, they got donations from various sponsors, and they sold their Dig Pink jerseys after the game.

Although the varsity team lost, the team was still able to raise enough money to reach the $10,000 goal they had set.

Dig Pink started five years ago after the wife of Robert Kersey, the athletic director at the time, had died from breast cancer. Talcott got all the Olathe schools to participate with their junior varsity and varsity teams. Each year the event travels to a different Olathe school, and this year it returned to South.

“Olathe Medical Center has been a big supporter for the last two or three years, “Talcott said.

The Sunday before, Oct. 8, there was a banquet where a survivor spoke to the girls and their families. This year’s speaker was Dr. Alison Banikowski.  The speaker gave the girls information about how to check themselves properly and how to be aware of the illness.

Last year a coach from Gardner went home after the event and did a self check. She then discovered that she had stage three breast cancer. Because of Dig Pink, she is now a survivor.

“It’s a neat night,” Talcott said. “It helps bring awareness to young gals, and even older people who attend.”