Blue Jays Basketball to Conduct Super Sam Foundation Fundraiser During Games on Feb. 15, 2024

The Westminster College Blue Jays will continue their commitment to fighting childhood cancer by conducting a special fundraiser on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, for the Super Sam Foundation.

Tip-off for Blue Jays women’s basketball versus the Lyon College Scots of Batesville, Arkansas, will take place at 5:30 p.m. The men’s teams will face off immediately afterwards at approximately 7:30 p.m. Both games will take place in the Historic Gymnasium on campus, where Winston Churchill delivered his “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946.

The special event follows an impressive $1,000 donation raised on Jan. 27, 2024, by the Blue Jays basketball program for the Super Sam Foundation.

Talisha Washington, Head Women’s Basketball Coach, Assistant Athletic Director, and Senior Woman Administrator, explains she became personally involved with the Super Sam Foundation during the 2019-2020 academic year, when the Callaway County community rallied around a child named Wyatt Salmons who suffered from a malignant brain tumor.

“Inspired by Wyatt’s courage and resilience, I reached out to Cassie Santhuff with the Super Sam Foundation to see if we could do something to support the Foundation,” Washington explains. “We invited Wyatt and his family to attend our game, and from that moment on, it became a yearly tradition for us to promote awareness and encourage others to join the fight against cancer.”

During Thursday’s games ― which are free and open to the public ― the Blue Jays will accept monetary donations at the door. Care package items such as blankets, gift cards, Kleenex boxes, and hand sanitizer are also welcome. A presentation recognizing the Super Sam Foundation’s mission will take place at halftime of the women’s game.

Santhuff, “Super” Sam’s mother and Co-Founder and President of the Foundation, says all donations will go directly to children in the local community. “There are several kiddos in Fulton fighting at the moment: Ezra, Kenzley, Brennis, and we just lost sweet Sadie,” she says.

Ezra is the 8-year-old son of Westminster staff member Sara Schaefer, Administrative Coordinator for Academic Affairs. He is fighting rhabdomyosarcoma, the same cancer that afflicted Sam Santhuff, who strongly advocated for childhood cancer research and comfort packs “for all the kids” while fighting his own battle before passing from the disease in 2014.

Washington adds that all members of the Blue Jays basketball program support the Super Sam Foundation because of their shared commitment to the Callaway County community.

“Our student-athletes work with kids in our community and establish connections with them,” she emphasizes. ”They feel proud and honored to give back in this way and support a cause that makes a difference for the kids and their families.”

For more information on the upcoming Blue Jays Super Sam Fundraiser, please contact Talisha.Washington@WCMO.edu.