The Sevastopol Pioneers boys’ basketball team may have won the game, but the Sevastopol and Gibraltar communities came together for an even bigger victory — raising $17,678 for 8-year-old Violet Tanck.
A standing-room-only crowd packed the Sevastopol gymnasium Monday night to support Violet and her battle with a rare form of Ewing sarcoma.
Butterflies filled the gym, appearing on T-shirts and sweatshirts, tattooed onto players, and displayed on walls.
After watching the end of the junior varsity game with her family, Violet was introduced to the crowd under a canopy of cellphone lights. Members of the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams then spread out around the gym for the Miracle Minute, set to her favorite song, “Golden,” from K-Pop Demon Hunters.
Violet’s aunt and Sevastopol Athletic Director Brooke Tanck made sure her niece knows that as she travels to and from Milwaukee for treatment, the community is standing in her corner.
Monday marked the second time the Pioneers boys’ basketball team has helped raise thousands of dollars for children battling cancer.
In December, $12,000 was raised to support the Butch and Ramirez families, and nearly another $2,900 was collected for DoorCancer, a local organization that helps fund families on their own cancer journeys.
Sevastopol coach Tom Ash expressed his appreciation for the community’s support.
Those who missed the game but still want to support Violet can donate through a GoFundMe page set up for the Tanck family.
Gibraltar will also host its own cancer benefit game in conjunction with the Vikings’ home boys’ basketball matchup against Sturgeon Bay. The event, Kat’s Full-Court Fight Against Lymphoma, will support 2018 Gibraltar graduate Kathleen Jackson in her battle with Hodgkin lymphoma.
More details about that game can be found below.
