The Pekin Community High School volleyball team has kept its Volley for the Cure fundraiser going since 2008.
The event reached a pinnacle this school year. The team-record $27,169 raised for the Susan G. Komen Memorial was the most in the country for a high school volleyball team fundraiser for Komen, and the most ever raised by a central Illinois high school volleyball team for Komen, according to exhaustive research.
Volley for the Cure events in the state are sanctioned by the Illinois High School Association.
"Nobody in the state has embraced Volley for the Cure more than the Pekin community," said Gayle Young, executive director of Central Illinois Komen Memorial.
Longtime Pekin volleyball coach Yvonne Thompson said her team takes pride in its Volley for the Cure event.
"We always aim high," she said. "As volleyball coaches, we're focused, of course, on our team's skill development and what happens on the court. This is something we can do off the court, and it's a win-win for us no matter what our record is."
Thompson said her team began the fundraiser in 2008 because a parent on the team had breast cancer.
She didn't record the dollar amount raised in the first year, she said, because she didn't know if the event would continue. It certainly did.
"Unfortunately, breast cancer has impacted the families of many more of our players through the years, but our community has continued to rally for the cause," Thompson said.
"[Pekin assistant coach] Priscilla (DeLaere, Thompson's twin sister) and several local businesses have been involved since Day One."
Here's how much the Pekin volleyball team has raised in its Volley for the Cure event through the years, not counting 2008:
- 2009 -- $7,013
- 2010 -- $8,900
- 2011 -- $10,850
- 2012 -- $11,000
- 2013 -- $11,522
- 2014 -- $11,365
- 2015 -- $14,983
- 2016 -- $19,000
- 2017 -- $26,598
- 2018 -- $20,353
- 2019 -- $26,604
- 2020 -- Not held because of COVID-19
- 2021 -- $25,766
- 2022 -- $27,169
Each year, Pekin joins forces with another Mid-Illini Conference volleyball team for the Volley for the Cure match, which is held at Pekin in October.
Fundraising activities include the sale of pink T-shirts, a silent auction, gift baskets, raffles, a percentage of restaurant sales for a night, and lawn signs.
And, of course, a bake sale.
"Everyone loves a bake sale," Thompson said.
