Ribbons from the “wear your heart on your sleeve” campaign created by the Heart and Stroke Foundation to raise money for the Cassibo family. Photo by Callie Jackson, QNet News.
By Callie Jackson [1]
BELLEVILLE – The Heart and Stroke Foundation [2]and Loyalist College partnered up to paint the night red on Friday.
The men’s and women’s basketball teams played the George Brown Huskies [3] while the Heart and Stroke set and Loyalist College raised money for the Cassibo family of Belleville. The father of Erin and Kayla Cassibo, both Loyalist athletes, suffered a debilitating stroke a year ago.
Loyalist athletic assistant Amy Hoskin explained why the fundraiser took place:
http://www.qnetnews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/HoskinAudio.mp3 [4]Hoskin also said the fundraiser has been in motion for a while.
“We’d been speaking to (the Heart and Stroke Foundation) before about potentially doing a Paint the Town Red awareness night, and then we heard about the Cassibo situation, so we thought it was a great way to put the things together and we started to collaborate for tonight.”
The foundation set up a fundraising table with the proceeds going to the Cassibo family. At the table, items including tuques, soccer balls and basketballs with the heart and stroke logo on them, as well as college clothing, were being sold.
Business members in the community made generous donations to the cause, said Sandra Barnes, area co-ordinator for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
“We just thought we would jump right in and reached out to the Belleville community, and we received donations from a number of places, like Canadian Tire, Batawa Ski Hill and also Staples. They were all very generous with their donations.”
It’s important for everyone to be aware of their health, she said:
http://www.qnetnews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Heartandstrokeaudio.mp3 [5]