Celebrity Match Benefits NABCO

Amir Soofi
Mirror contributing writer

   Sears and the WNBA presented the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations (NABCO) with a check for $377,872 during Monday night’s Breast Health Awareness Celebrity Game at Crossroads School in Santa Monica. The donation includes funds raised during the second season of Sears’ three-year $1 million commitment to NABCO.
   The celebrities on the court, as well as in the audience, represented the worlds of movies, television, and music. All had one thing in common: a dedication to raising breast health awareness. Team Awareness — whose roster was headlined by Breckin Meyer, David Arquette, John Witherspoon and Orlando Jones — defeated Frankie Muniz, Bill Bellamy, Coolio, and Sean Patrick Thomas of Team Hope, 69-53.
   Meyer and Muniz gave surprisingly good showings, becoming de facto point guards for their teams. The game was as entertaining as it was athletic, in that it displayed traditional basketball skills like dribbling, passing and shooting, as well as comedic skills like pantsing and jersey swapping. As entertaining as it was, the real purpose of the night was never far from hand, as the game’s basketball was a pink-and-white Breast Health Awareness Ball.
   “Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in the U.S.,” explained Los Angeles Sparks all-star center and WNBA MVP Lisa Leslie, program spokesperson for the second consecutive year. “The problem is that so many women wait too long before testing and fortunately the most common cases of breast cancer are treatable if detected at an early stage.”
   Leslie is a southern California native who broke every record at Morningside High School before heading to University of Southern California to accomplish the same. In addition to establishing herself as one of the most dominant players in women’s basketball, she has made an equally dramatic impression on the community for serving as spokesperson for Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America and the Rape Treatment Center in Santa Monica in addition to NABCO.
   The funds raised for NABCO during the 2001 season included $1,000 for every celebrity photographed with the pink-and-white Breast Health Awareness Ball, 50 cent donations for every fan in attendance at 16 Sears WNBA Breast Health Awareness Nights, donations made on behalf of 16 Breast Health Heroes, proceeds from the Sears WNBA Breast Health Awareness Auction, and donations made on behalf of the Los Angeles Sparks and program spokesperson Lisa Leslie.
   NABCO is the leading non-profit information and education resource on breast cancer with a network of over 400 breast cancer organizations. For more information on NABCO’s programs, visit www.nabco.org or call (888) 80-NABCO.