Dig Pink Highlights Massapequa's Fight Against Breast Cancer

The Massapequa Chiefs girls volleyball team will do their part to help spike breast cancer Wednesday.

The volleyball team and the Chiefs athletic family is recognizing October's National Breast Cancer Awareness month with its annual Dig Pink Event.

This week through  Thursday Oct. 20, various teams are dedicating a home game to the fight against the disease.

Wednesday’s   “Think Pink” day starts off with the girls volleyball in the High School gymnasium. The Junior Varsity game starts at 4 p.m. and Varsity starts at 6 p.m.  

Felicia Febrizio, a spokesperson for the Massapequa School District said excitement is building for the event which was very successfu in 2010. 

“Everything was flooded in pink,” she said. “Pink balloons to pink tables, to the players in pink uniforms. We had a bunch of raffles, pink cupcakes and a flower ceremony.”

Febrizio  believes this time around students will bring even more awareness and contributions than last year.

“This is usually a well-attended event,” she said. “Last year I believe there were hundreds of spectators and we raised over $10,000 for breast cancer research.”

The event at the High School main campus gym will include performances by the Massapequa Kickline Team and Cheerleading Squad, face-painting, a cotton candy machine as well as  several raffles and baskets.

Attendees are urged to wear pink and bring a canned food item for St. Rose Food Pantry. There will also be an item-collecting drive gathering different things for soldiers serving in active duty in Afghanistan.  Fabrizio said local restaurants, businesses and other merchants have also contributed  to the effort.

The Dig Pink event has been a constant in the Massapequa community for years, according to Febrizio and is named for a play in volleyball. “Dig” in volleyball means to pass the ball to another player in effort to score a point against the opposing team. In this case, Dig Pink in this case means to pass on the necessary and powerful resources to score points in the fight to end breast cancer.  

This portion of the Dig Pink week is being coordinated by the Side-Out Foundation, a nationwide organization established in 2004 to join various volleyball players and coaches across the country in the fight against Breast Cancer.

Anne Habeeb, mother of girls volleyball coach CarolAnn Habeeb, was honored at the event last year for being a cancer survivor.

The event week continues Thursday as the junior varsity girls tennis team support Dig Pink in their 4:30 home game against Garden City on the tennis courts and the boys volleyball team host Herricks, 5 p.m. in the main high school gym. Dig Pink wraps up on 7 p.m. Thursday Oct. 20 as the field hockey team hosts Friends Academy in the Field of Dreams.