Tonight, at the Bellwood-Antis Homecoming football game against Bishop Guilfoyle at Memorial Stadium, Sideline Cancer will recognize Melody Plummer, a Bellwood resident who is currently battling colon cancer.
This will be the second year that Sideline Cancer and Bellwood-Antis have teamed together to raise money for cancer on Homecoming night. Last year they had great success, raising $3,000 for Jeff Wright.
According to Renaissance advisor and Homecoming coordinator Mrs. Allison Stinson, Sideline Cancer has sponsored three total athletic events at B-A, beginning with a basketball game in 2022 that raised $1,000 for the father of then-B-A senior Dawson Miller, who was battling pancreatic cancer.
Mrs. Stinson says input from students and the community go into selecting each year’s Sideline Cancer donation recipient and that Mrs. Plummer was mentioned by a number of students.
This year teams will be playing for the I Can Cup. $5 of every item sold will go to Melody Plummer. Fans will also be able to buy Sideline Cancer items at the football game on Friday.
Cathy Griffith, founding president of Sideline Cancer, will be joining B-A at the game. Sideline Cancer has people from around the community come together for one night for one common purpose: to have the Sideline Cancer foundation donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to pancreatic cancer research.
After the announcement of the Homecoming queen, Sideline Cancer representatives, along with representatives from B-A and Bishop Guilfoyle, along with the Homecoming court, will gather on the field to recognize Mrs. Plummer. She will be escorted onto the field by her nephew, Bellwood-Antis freshman Chase Plummer.
Members of the Homecoming court spent the week selling t-shirts to promote their teams, and the money from those sales goes towards the Sideline Cancer donation. Mrs. Stinson said the girls have already sold more than 950 shirts, and they expect the number to reach 1,000 by game time.
Mrs. Plummer is a member of the Bellwood community and has been for the past forty years. She is also a Bellwood-Antis alumnus. She has gone through a lot lately and is loving the support from everyone. She doesn’t know how she would make it without all this support. Mrs. Plummer wanted to tell the community “Thank you all for what you have done.’’
In the end, Sideline Cancer is very happy to help and recognize Melody Plummer.
Please bring your “I can” attitude and “believe always” spirit to Friday night’s football game!!
Peggy • Oct 7, 2023 at 9:26 am
Melody is a warm, caring friend and deserves the best!