The Cleveland Browns will honor National Breast Cancer Awareness Month throughout October, in partnership with the American Cancer Society.
This year, the National Football League and the American Cancer Society are expanding their efforts to support the fight against cancer through the "Crucial Catch: Intercept Cancer" campaign. After nearly a decade of supporting breast cancer, the NFL and ACS have evolved the campaign to address early detection and risk reduction efforts for all cancers to increase their impact.
The Browns elected to continue their commitment toward raising awareness and funds for breast cancer testing and research with the American Cancer Society. The team will host its dedicated breast cancer awareness game during this Sunday's matchup against the New York Jets. The game is presented by University Hospitals.
During pregame, the Browns will recognize breast cancer survivors during the presentation of a custom pink ribbon banner. Honorees were nominated by loved ones and selected through an open-nomination process, in collaboration with the American Cancer Society.
Additionally, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center's Director of Breast Center Operations Dr. Jill Dietz will serve as the team's First and Ten Coin Toss captain, celebrating her exceptional work in her field, as well as her volunteerism throughout the year.
On Tuesday, the Browns, including OL Shon Coleman, TE J.P. Holtz, QB DeShone Kizer, OL Marcus Martin, DL Larry Ogunjobi, DL Danny Sheltonand*TERandall Telfer, *visited patients who are receiving treatment for various types of cancer at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center. The team also spent time in the hospital's Breen Breast Health Pavilion and delivered Browns hats to Le Salon, a free nail and wig salon part of the American Cancer Society Wig Salon Program for patients in the UH Seidman Cancer Center.
Additionally, FirstEnergy Stadium will once again be lit in pink throughout October to bring additional awareness to the platform during BCA month.
Prior to Sunday's contest, Zeta Tau Alpha alumnae and collegiate members will #give10 while distributing 20,000 pink ribbons on Dawg Pound Drive and FirstEnergy Stadium entrances to raise awareness and show support. This marks the 15th consecutive year that the Browns and ZTA have partnered for the initiative, which has resulted in ZTA volunteers providing more than 300,000 THINK PINK ribbons to Browns fans.
Since 2009, more than $18 million has been raised for the American Cancer Society through the partnership with the NFL. Money raised through* Crucial Catch this season will be directed towards support of three screenable cancers: breast, colorectal and cervical. Funding will continue to support the American Cancer Society's Community Health Advocates implementing Nationwide Grants for Empowerment and Equity (CHANGE) program, which provides outreach and cancer screenings to individuals in underserved communities. Since 2012, grant recipients have contributed to more than 152,000 screenings and more than 344,000 education and outreach interventions. In Cleveland, *Circle Health Services received a $75,000 grant from this partnership to help serve the community with much needed cancer screenings and will be hosting a Crucial Catch Day screening event on October 28 at their Euclid Ave. location.
Local football teams of all ages can also participate in the movement by supporting the American Cancer Society. Through #give10, teams are encouraged to share their stories of how they are promoting breast cancer awareness during their games.
Select game-used items will be available on NFL Auction (www.NFL.com/auction) throughout the month, with all net proceeds from the sale items benefiting the American Cancer Society. Special merchandise, including pink Browns gear, is also available at www.NFLshop.com.
Fans can visit www.ClevelandBrowns.com/brownsgiveback or www.NFL.com/crucialcatch to learn more about the campaign and the youth and high school football initiative, as well as important cancer detection information, prevention tips and more.
About the Cleveland Browns and Browns Give Back:
The Browns Give Back to Northeast Ohio with a commitment to education and youth football while engaging the community through the team's signature First and Ten volunteer movement. For more information, visit www.clevelandbrowns.com/brownsgiveback.
Education –A core focus of Browns Give Back is education, and the Cleveland Browns Foundation supports this mission through financial grants and other resources to local, education non-profits to ensure youth in Northeast Ohio receive the education and development they need as a foundation for independence and success. The Cleveland Browns Foundation has identified three areas of impact – school attendance, early learning and college and career readiness – with the goal of identifying opportunities, removing barriers and providing support for students to empower them for long-term success.
Youth Football– The Cleveland Browns are committed to assisting the development, safety and growth of youth and high school football throughout Northeast Ohio with year-round programming for players, coaches, officials and parents. Through camps, clinics and other initiatives, the Browns' goal is to promote healthy, social, emotional, intellectual and physical development of youth by enhancing opportunities for youth football participation and education.
First and Ten –Launched in June 2014, the Cleveland Browns First and Ten campaign is the team's community program, established to inspire fans to #give10 and help their communities by volunteering for 10 hours each year. Through First and Ten, the Browns are the only NFL club to promote a long-term volunteering program that unifies the team and its entire fan base, with the goal of impacting every individual's city across the globe, as well as the franchise's local community. To date, more than 1.5 million hours of volunteering have been pledged through First and Ten. All Browns fans are encouraged to join the volunteering effort by signing the First and Ten pledge on the team's website and by sharing their stories with #give10.
About University Hospitals
Founded in 1866, University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of 18 hospitals, more than 40 outpatient health centers and 200 physician offices in 15 counties throughout northern Ohio. The system's flagship academic medical center, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, located on a 35-acre campus in Cleveland's University Circle, is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The main campus also includes UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children's hospitals in the nation; UH MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; and UH Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. UH is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research programs in the nation, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopedics, radiology, neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, digestive health, dermatology, transplantation and urology. UH Cleveland Medical Center is perennially among the highest performers in national ranking surveys, including "America's Best Hospitals" from U.S. News & World Report. UH is also home to Harrington Discovery Institute at UH – part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development. UH is the second largest employer in northern Ohio with 26,000 employees. For more information, visit www.uhhospitals.org.
About American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is a global grassroots force of 2.5 million volunteers saving lives and fighting for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. As the largest voluntary health organization, the Society's efforts have contributed to a 20 percent decline in cancer death rates in the U.S. since 1991 and a 50 percent drop in smoking rates. Thanks in part to its progress, nearly 14 million Americans who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will celebrate more birthdays this year. ACS is determined to finish the fight against cancer. The American Cancer Society is finding cures as the nation's largest private, not-for-profit investor in cancer research, ensuring people facing cancer have the help they need and continuing the fight for access to quality health care, lifesaving screenings, clean air and more. For more information, to get help or to join the fight, call 1-800-227-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.
