BATON ROUGE — LSU gymnastics, with the help of the Baton Rouge community, raised $30,950 at the first annual Etta James Memorial Meet on Friday, Feb. 22.
The money was donated to Foundation56, created by former LSU linebacker Bradie James to help raise awareness of breast cancer in the Baton Rouge area. The meet was named after James’ mother who succumbed to breast cancer in February 2002.
“This is really the first big fundraising event for the foundation and we’re definitely excited about it,” said James, who just wrapped up his fifth year with the Dallas Cowboys. “I wanted to do something that I knew I could make an impact on.”
A record crowd of 7,717 donated money for prizes, including pink ribbons, Foundation56 pink bracelets, Foundation56 t-shirts and purple and pink LSU boas. With the donation came the chance for a fan to win $1,000 or the chance to sit with Bradie James during the meet’s fourth rotation.
A silent auction, featuring LSU and Dallas Cowboys’ signed memorabilia, helped push the total amount donated by the fans to $20,950.
Since over 7,500 fans attended, an additional $10,000 was donated by honorary coaches Gary and Sandy Young of Air Nu.
“I was overwhelmed by the response from the community,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “It shows that Baton Rouge shares Bradie’s passion and the concern for a lot of people about every issue related to breast cancer in our underserved population.”
Other major donations were made by Coca-Cola, Dr. Mary E. Christian, Dr. Cecilia M. Cuntz, Emco Technologies, Dr. Michael W. Hailey, Joel and Janey Nasca and Turner Industries.
LSU continues its home stand when they face Michigan State, Friday at 7 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.