Fridley Football Tackles Cancer

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On Friday, October 12, 2012, the Tigers hosted their first “Tackle Cancer” game in partnership with the Randy Shaver Cancer Research Foundation.  The “Tackle Cancer” team, headed by parent Amy Hauge, raised nearly $1200.00 for the Foundation.

As part of the fundraiser, over 200 balloons were sold throughout the week leading to the game, and at the game itself, for a suggested donation of $1.00 each.  Tags were attached to each balloon and those who purchased one could add a message or dedication for those affected by cancer.

The balloons were tied to the fence in the East End Zone at Bob O’Neill Field and released during the 4^th quarter of the game.

A few weeks later, an envelope arrived at Fridley High School from Ontario, Canada.  One of the Tackle Cancer balloons had landed in the back yard of a kindergarten student at Aberfoyle Public School.  She shared it with her class, who then sent the following letter to Fridley High School Principal Renee Van Gorp:

“Dear Fridley Tigers:  We found one of your balloons and we wanted to write you a letter.  We are in Kindergarten and go to Aberfoyle Public School.  We are the Aberfoyle Alligators!  We found the balloon in Kayla’s backyard and we wanted to know more about it.  We looked on the computer and found out it flew 15 hours from the U.S. to Canada.  It landed in Puslinch, Ontario.

We raise money for cancer too.  Terry Fox is a hero in Canada who had one pretend leg.  He helped sick people with cancer by running very far.  We ran around our school to raise money for Terry.  We raised $1172.  How much did the Fridley Tigers raise?

Thanks for sending us your balloon.  It was so exciting to find!”

The Aberfoyle Alligators included a class photo and individual pictures drawn by the students of balloons flying through the air from Minnesota to Ontario.

The first “Tigers Tackle Cancer” game was a success not only in raising funds for the Randy Shaver Foundation, but by touching students 885 miles away. What a great way to kick off a new tradition at Fridley High School!