This year’s fifth Chuckstrong Tailgate Gala raised more than $1 million Friday for the IU Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center.
The annual gala is organized by the Indianapolis Colts and their head coach, Chuck Pagano, at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center, according to an IU press release. The team was able to raise the money through generous donations, auctions, corporate sponsorship and guest contributions.
Pagano was diagnosed five years ago with acute promyelocytic leukemia and said he has a lot of hope for the future treating and curing of cancer
“This is such a great event,” Pagano said in the release. “It’s just a group of people who are committed to coming together for a cause to find a cure. We might think we’re a long ways away. I don’t think we are.”
Some familiar faces at the gala included Adam Vinatieri and T.Y. Hilton, both players for the Colts. Andrew Luck, another Colts player, participated in a $17,500 auction package which promised a special visit to a child’s school for a book reading.
These players, along with most of the Colts’ other players, coaches and cheerleaders, attended the event with more than 500 other guests, according to the release. Since 2012, work from the Chuckstrong effort has raised almost $5 million for the University’s continued cancer research.
The Simon Center is one of 69 other top cancer treatment facilities in the country and has world-class resources and capabilities for providing advanced services and treatment to patients, according to the release.
“These doctors and researchers who are here and these people who are here supporting don’t believe that,” Pagano said in the release. “We have the opportunity to come together again as a family, as a community and raise awareness to finding a cure.”
Kelly Evans
