Men's Basketball Supports the Fight Against Cancer; visits the American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge – KentWired

To show support for cancer patients, their caregivers and the American Cancer Society's mission to eradicate cancer, the Kent State University men's basketball team visited the American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge in Cleveland on September 11.

“Our players and staff do a lot of community service as members of the basketball program here,” said coach Rob Senderoff. “Hope Lodge is affiliated with the Cleveland Clinic and is a facility where people undergoing cancer treatment and their caregivers can stay for free during treatment.”

Hope Lodge in Cleveland is one of more than 30 facilities where cancer patients can focus on their recovery and receive support from others.

Throughout the day the team was able to impact Hope Lodge in a number of ways.

“We went there to serve dinner to the patients and their caregivers and spent a few hours playing games with the people who were there at the time,” Senderoff said.

Senderoff spoke on behalf of the team when he spoke about the impact of cancer, not just on the players and staff, but the impact of cancer around the world.

“I don’t think there’s a player on my roster or a person I know who hasn’t been affected by cancer on some level, be it family or friends,” Senderoff said. “Having the opportunity to be there and spend a few hours getting to know some of those people – that had a big impact on our players.”

This event was highlighted in the calendar and was of great importance to the team.

“It's impactful because our program wants to give back the best we can, and this is one of the ways we can do that,” Senderoff said.

Not only has the team made a major effort to support cancer treatment in the fall, but the program continues to make an impact throughout the basketball season.

“One of the programs we are involved in is supporting the American Cancer Society,” Senderoff said. “During the season we host a game where we all wear suits and sneakers to raise awareness and funds for cancer research.”

Kent State's basketball program has been a participant in the Mid-American Conference for some time and is making it to the March Madness tournament in 2023. It continues to be a great platform not only for basketball but also for a good cause.

The team will continue to give back to Hope Lodge throughout the year and remain passionate about cancer care.

“During the winter holidays we are having a canned food drive that we will also be doing at Hope Lodge,” Senderoff said. “We will continue to give back throughout the year and in this day and age our guys are really lucky to have the platform that they have. Any chance we can to give back, we will.”

Andrew Gold is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].