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Cheerleaders, football players, cheer block members and other Warsaw Community High School students joined with Warsaw Community Schools staff, coaches and administrators at 8 a.m. Friday for Dunkin’ Goes Pink.
The event at Dunkin’, 2234 E. Center St., Warsaw, kicked off WCHS’s Pink Out event, which includes the annual Walk The Track, at the Oct. 2 home football game against Plymouth.
Jonah Potter, a WCHS senior and co-president of the cheer block with Sam Lara, explained, “The cheer block is the area where we encourage all the high school students to sit at and we do these dress-up themes, and (for) Pink Out, we wear pink to raise awareness for breast cancer. It’s a tradition that we started to do, and it means a lot to the community, and I think that’s why it’s so important to us.”
He said that’s because not just students get involved, but all of Warsaw and communities beyond come together.
“We all are with you in your fight against breast cancer, or any type of cancer, and I think that’s why the Walk is so awesome because it’s survivors, it’s families who have dealt with it and it’s just students, other community members, people who might not even have known that some other people were dealing with these things. Just being, ‘We are with you, we support you,’” Potter said.
He said they hope to have the biggest turnout yet for the Oct. 2 Pink Out.
“I know our student section, we’ve been nice and loud and fun this year, so I expect to see a lot of students there. But, I think this year, we’re going to have probably one of the biggest years of cancer survivors and general community members because we’re starting to get the word out there to people who might not be super in-tune with Warsaw sports and Warsaw as a community,” Potter stated.
WCS Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert told the crowd at Dunkin’ Friday, “This is the kick off to our Pink Out event. A big huge thank you to our sponsors that we have out there, one of which being Dunkin’ Donuts, Weigand.” Another sponsor of the Pink Out Night is Kari Vilamaa.
Money raised through Pink Out activities goes to the Cancer Care Fund at WCS. Potter said the money goes to people dealing with cancer in Warsaw, whether it’s a student’s family member or teacher.
“It’s just lending a hand and providing aid to those who are going through something that other students may not even know about it,” Potter said.
Olivia Starkweather, a senior WCHS cheerleader, said, “I would say that it’s definitely super important to be involved in Pink Out because ... it’s a lot more than just a football game and a lot more of just people coming together, watching football. It’s raising awareness in our community and showing that we support and that we care about these people who are going through a tough time in their life, whether that’s a close family member or whether that’s somebody you may not know. It’s super important to let them know that they are not alone in this fight and in this journey.”
She said the cheerleaders make it known October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month because they like to do as much as they can. During the Oct. 2 game, Starkweather said they’ll be wearing their pink shirts and raising money at the game to go toward the Cancer Care Fund.
Grady Nelson, WCHS senior and defensive end, talked about how the Tiger football team supports Pink Out.
“It’s really important because as a football team we really don’t get involved in all the other stuff going on Pink Out Night. So, wearing pink socks gives us the ability to show like, my great-grandma had breast cancer so it just really shows my support for her and we have to wear bland colors all the time, so it just gives us a chance to stick out on the field. And it probably feels good for fans that have been affected by breast cancer to come onto the stands and see on the field all the players wearing pink and just showing our support,” he said.
Cindy Rojas, manager at Dunkin’, said, “We absolutely love everything that (Pink Out coordinator) Rachael (Hoffert) has been putting together for the Pink Out, and that’s one of our biggest things, especially with our #onedonutatatime, not only helping students on being able to get rewarded whenever they do something great in school - that’s why we sponsor the Student of the Month - but also being able to reach out to the community and being able to try to make an impact.”
She said when she took over management about three years ago, that’s one of the biggest things they really wanted to accomplish - making a difference.
“And this has given me such an opportunity to be able to do that, be able to reach out and just see how much of an impact it truly does, and, thankfully, I do have the resources here. I have an amazing district manager that always supports me with everything, besides being my husband. Definitely got teamwork here, and just a great community that’s able to also help us be able to achieve all the stuff that we’re able to achieve,” Cindy stated.
She gave credit to Rachael for putting the Pink Out together and including Dunkin’.
“It makes me really happy to be able to see people come together to really support such an amazing cause,” Cindy said.
All the Pink Out doughnuts will be put into rotation at Dunkin’ throughout October, and Dunkin’ also will be donating doughnuts to the concession stand at the WCHS football games like they did last year.
Dunkin’ also will be donating 100 doughnuts for the first 100 people that come in to the Oct. 2 football game. Dunkin’ also has a raffle going on to be able to help WCHS raise more money for its Cancer Care Fund.
“If you enter the raffle, you’re able to be able to win free coffee, any size, any beverage of your choice, for the whole month of October. So one lucky winner will do that. A lot of the customers in the community here get so excited about it, and it’s something really fun we get to do,” Cindy said.
Rachael will announce the winner at the Oct. 2 Pink Out game.
Bart Curtis, WCHS head football coach, said of the Oct. 2 football game and Pink Out Night, “When you put everything into perspective, the football game itself is not the big show that night. The big deal is that every person, if cancer has not had an impact on their lives, it’s a matter of time. Everybody knows someone or has a loved one or a family that’s been impacted with cancer. So it’s our opportunity as a football program to present a stage where all of this can take place, and not only just to learn us, but the fundraising aspect of it and the money that goes to Warsaw community members that have been impacted by cancer. It’s just an honor an a privilege to be able to do that.”
