Sorry, but I’m going to take advantage of this being Sunday and I’m going to get a little preachy. I don’t want to make anyone mad, but if you’re offended in any way, sorry but I can’t change the way I feel about this issue.

The start of the high school football season is only days away. The excitement and anticipation from the opening kickoff until the final seconds tick off the clock 10 weeks from now captures the attention of thousands of fans.

But football isn’t the only sport played in the fall. Other student-athletes participate in golf, cross country, girls’ tennis, soccer and volleyball.

While these are considered non-revenue sports, they still draw some interest. Volleyball distinguishes itself with a campaign to help raise money for the fight against breast cancer.

Now, that is something we can all get behind. I’m 100 percent for the campaign waged by area teams.

But I would like to suggest that instead of the money being donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation that schools switch to the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research.

Now, this isn’t because the late Stefanie Spielman was the wife of former Ohio State All-American linebacker Chris Spielman who went on to star with the Detroit Lions in the NFL.

The Spielman Fund makes sure all its donations go toward research to cure breast cancer and to help those cancer patients and their families who are struggling to afford the costs associated with the treatment.

The fund has provided essential equipment and services including circulation pumps for lymphedema, compression garments, wigs, nutrition supplements, gas cards, restaurant cards and assistance with transportation.

While the Susan G. Komen Foundation is spending a lot of money on research and other things as well, it is also providing money to Planned Parenthood.

Although a public outcry forced the Komen Foundation to stop its grants to Planned Parenthood a year or so ago, it only lasted a few weeks before the officials atop Planned Parenthood bullied their way back onto the payroll.

Whether you are pro life or pro choice doesn’t matter. Well, it does, but we’re not going to get into that right now.

In my opinion, Planned Parenthood basically pushes for women to have abortions. It’s a multi-million dollar business, so they need abortions to pay the bills. They claim to use the money from the Komen Foundation to do mammograms on women to detect breast cancer.

The thing they don’t tell you is that abortions can eventually lead to a woman getting breast cancer.

Not only is that a contradiction of grave proportions, but the idea of trying to raise money to save people from breast cancer at an adult level but then taking the life of an infant on the other end of the spectrum is an even greater contradiction.

My suggestion to the schools is to continue their noble cause of raising money for breast cancer, but send it to an organization that better suites the purpose behind the campaign.

Stefanie Spielman, then 30, battled breast cancer for nine years. Chris took a year off from the Lions to be with her when they first discovered she was sick in 1998. She fought a brave battle for nine years.

Looking to raise some money for breast cancer, the couple set a goal of raising $250,000. Within six months, they had raised more than $1 million. To date, the fund has raised more than $10 million.

Schools or individuals interested in the help of the Spielman Fund to raise money, contact CommunityPartnerEvents@osumc.edu. To make a donation, contact the University Comprehensive Cancer-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute in Columbus at (614) 293-3752.

 

Jim Walker is sports editor of The Ironton Tribune.