By Amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
The Otis M. Andrews sports complex was busy this Saturday. Not only did tons of soccer, football and baseball teams show up for their games, Play for a Cure was also out on the field.
Play for a Cure is a free event to raise awareness for childhood cancer. There are colored hair spray booths, a cookie decorating station run by the Strawberry Queen’s court and a bounce house.
Emily Pierce started the event last year. Pierce’s 9-year-old daughter, Morgan, has neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that affects the sympathetic nervous system and is found mainly in children under 10 years old. Sympathetic nervous system tumors account for 7.8% of all cancers among children younger than 15 years.
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month, and Pierce doesn’t want that to be forgotten.
“There are several kids in Plant City who have cancer and they don’t get coverage,” Pierce said. “I just want people to know about our kids. They are battling cancer while trying to go to school and while they’re parents are working.”
Many local sponsors pulled together to help put on the event. They include Chili’s, Sonny’s, Felton’s, the Plant City Police Department, the Plant City Fire Department, Mike’s Tire and Wheel, Jonathan Bendorf Bouncers, Plant City Dolphins, Daddy’s Bakery, CIM and William Henry Hancock, Jr.
Play for a Cure
WHEN: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 22
WHERE: Dolphin Field at the Otis M. Andrews Sports Complex, 2602 E. Cherry St.
CAUSE: Pediatric cancer