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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time when it is not uncommon to see football players on television and in high school decked out in pink as a show of support for the cause.

Bellwood-Antis takes a different approach. The Blue Devils are donating money to the Girl’s Night Out fund.

Each year, Blue Devils Coach Nick Lovrich has the football team raise money  for a fund called Girls Night Out, which is the largest Breast Cancer fundraiser in the Blair County area.

In 2019, the B-A football team raised $1,200 and in the previous year they raised around $1,000.. This will be the third year the Bellwood-Antis football team will be participating in the fundraiser.

Due to COVID-19 in 2020, the football team was unable to raise the money for the fundraiser. Each football player is asked to hand in a cash donation of $5 or more.

The decision to raise money, Coach Lovrich said,  came because because everyone has a special women in their life they wouldn’t want to lose.

“It could be moms, sisters, wives, daughters, etc. so we are doing it for them. All of these women have played a big role in our development as people, so we thought it was important to help a cause that could affect them,” Coach Lovrich said.

Since most proceeds when buying pink football gear at places like Dick’s Sporting Goods do not go to supporting breast cancer, the team feels that donating to a fundraiser has more effect.

“The purpose of Girls Night Out is to help women out in our area with mammograms, breast cancer education, and support for the women who are affected by breast cancer,” Coach Lovrich stated.

Coach Lovrich said the Quarterback Club also helps out selling pins and matching the football players ‘donations. Since the Quarterback Club matches the donations and the football players donate $5, each gift will end up being $10, which is about the cost of a pair of pink socks t Dick’s.

Programs like Girls Night Out help women get financially stable while fighting Breast Cancer, providing funds for things like mammograms and mastectomy bras.

No one understands better how grass roots programs like these can benefit those diagnosed with breast cancer than Terri Orona. She started her fight against cancer on March 16th, 2020, during the worst time possible, the beginning of the COVID.

The hardest obstacles to get through for her was going to the doctors and hospital appointments and surgeries by myself and not having anyone allowed to come.”

“Fighting breast cancer is very draining mentally and physically,” she said.

Terri fought breast cancer by herself. Programs like Girls Night Out help women avoid that,  lifting the spirits of women fighting breast cancer by helping making sure they don’t have to worry about financial problems and instead focus on fighting the horrible disease and beating it.