The Long Beach athletic department hosted its annual Beauty and the Beast fundraising event on Jan. 15, raising more than $5,500 to benefit MSK Kids at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. This year's event was the fifth installment of the unique day.
The day-long event began with an opening ceremony, during which teams entered the gym to “Olympic Fanfare.” Cheerleader Theresa Perrone sang the national anthem, followed by a performance by the Long Beach varsity competition cheer team. A recognition ceremony honored Trip Powers, a Long Beach student diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and his family. Long Beach students Josh Vobis and Paddy Henry, captains of the Marines ice hockey team, presented Powers with a framed varsity hockey jersey signed by the team.
On Feb. 2 last year, Powers, an eighth grader, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The disease is a type of cancer that develops in the lymphatic system, a network of vessels and glands spread throughout the body. Powers has been doing well, receiving chemotherapy treatments once a month. His treatment plan is to continue these maintenance sessions until June, according to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Gold is typically the color that symbolizes the fight against pediatric cancer, with green symbolizing the fight against Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. During the event, Long Beach athletes wore gold to honor Powers and all the other kids and families going through fights of their own. All proceeds from the event are going to MSK Kids in Trip Powers’ name.
Long Beach High School’s varsity gymnastics and wrestling teams shared the gym for their respective meets. The gymnastics team participated in a tri-meet against Bethpage High School and Oceanside High School, while the wrestling team faced Baldwin High School. The Long Beach Marines won both the wrestling and gymnastics meets.
Over the past five years, proceeds from the event — including T-shirt sales, raffles and concessions — have totaled more than $25,000 to support MSK Kids. While the event is a team effort, Long Beach head varsity gymnastics coach Jessica Tull has been its driving force.
Tull came up with the idea for the event five years ago. Long Beach Director of Health and Physical Education Arnold Epstein said in a past Herald interview that “she wanted to do a community event around athletics and promote community service, but we didn’t have a cause at that time. We realized very quickly that doing something for MSK kids would be a great opportunity.”