CANADIAN CANCER SOCIETY

For a fourth consecutive year, the Calgary Stampeders' PinkPower program has been an overwhelming success thanks to the overwhelming generosity of our fans.

More than $46,000 was raised for the Canadian Cancer Society and the fight against women's cancers in the 2011 edition of the PinkPower initiative.

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As has been the custom since the inception of the program in 2008, funds for this very worthwhile cause were raised through the sale of special PinkPower merchandise including two styles of toques and a ball cap.

New this year, special "Pink" items including game-used balls autographed by Drew Tate and Charleston Hughes and game-worn gloves belonging to Hughes, Jon Cornish, Arjei Franklin, Johnny Forzani, Robert McCune and Keon Raymond were auctioned off. These eight items fetched bids totaling $2,700, with all proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society.

Stampeders long-snapper Randy Chevrier, whose mother is a breast cancer survivor and whose cousin succumbed to cancer, was a passionate spokesperson for the program and took the initiative to expand the program by raising additional funds through his “Pink challenge” on Twitter.

"We are extremely proud of our fans for once again strongly supporting PinkPower and the ongoing battle against women's cancers," said Stampeders president/COO Lyle Bauer. "This is a cause that is personal to so many of us and so for all the wives, mothers, grandmothers, sisters and friends, we thank you for your generosity."

The PinkPower program was conceived of in 2008 by Peni Hufnagel, wife of Stamps general manager/head coach John Hufnagel, and has now raised nearly $150,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society over four years of existence.

“On behalf of the Canadian Cancer Society, I would like to thank the Stampeder Football Club and the amazing Stampeders fans for again making PinkPower a success,” said Tiffany Kraus, marketing and communications manager for the Alberta/Northwest Territories branch of the Society.

“With early detection, breast cancer is more than 90 per cent beatable and because of events like PinkPower, more people know to talk to their doctors. But much more than the statistics, beating cancer means not having to say goodbye to the women we love. That’s what PinkPower is about.”

This year, the Canadian Cancer Society is investing $2.7 million to support world-class breast cancer research projects across Canada, helping to better prevent, detect and treat patients. More than 23,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in Canada. This year, and one in nine have a chance of developing breast cancer in her lifetime.

>> Click for more information on the Canadian Cancer Society