Prior to the tip of a recent Hawks game, the Atlanta Hawks Foundation presented a check totaling $185,000 to the Prostate Cancer Foundation as part of the team’s third annual Black History Month Assist Challenge, according to a press release.
At the beginning of February, the Hawks Foundation pledged to donate $250 to the Prostate Cancer Foundation for every assist registered by the Hawks. Throughout the month, the Hawks totaled 370 assists to bring the donation total to $92,500. Hawks Principal Owners Tony Ressler and Jami Gertz and the Ressler Gertz Family Foundation matched the figure to bring the total donation to $185,000.
Since the Hawks launched this annual campaign in 2019, the Black History Month Assist Challenge has raised a total of $503,000 to support life-saving research through the Prostate Cancer Foundation in addition to generating millions of impressions through various forms of media to promote the work of PCF.
“We are overwhelmed by the generous support PCF has received from the Hawks and the Ressler Gertz Family Foundation to help fund life-saving prostate cancer research,” said Christine Jones, COO, PCF. “Our partnership with the Hawks during Black History Month has helped us raise awareness – especially among Black men, who are disproportionately affected – about the importance of understanding their risks and knowing their numbers. And, that saves lives.”
The Hawks’ donation will be added to the more than $14 million committed to research teams focused on understanding why African American men are disproportionately affected by prostate cancer to other ethnicities and how to address this issue with treatments and cures. According to PCF, one-in-eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, but African American men are 76 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer than Caucasian men and more than twice as likely to die from the disease.
Learn more about the Black History Month Assist Challenge and find additional resources provided by Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University at Hawks.com/PCF.
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