ATLANTA – In recognition of Black History Month, the Atlanta Hawks have teamed up with the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Emory Healthcare to launch its fourth annual Black History Month Assist Challenge, in which the Hawks Foundation will donate $250 to the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) for every assist registered by the Hawks in February. The challenge also aims to raise awareness of prostate cancer inequities in Black men. One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime, and Black men are about 75 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer than non-Hispanic white men. The Black History Month Assist Challenge will begin for the Hawks on Thursday, Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m. with the team’s home game against Phoenix at the award-winning State Farm Arena.
“We look forward to continuing this impactful and important campaign with PCF this season,” said Executive Director of the Atlanta Hawks Foundation David Lee. “Alongside PCF and Emory Healthcare, we are looking forward to increasing awareness as well as providing additional support in order to battle this disease that affects so many men, especially Black men.”
Launched in 2019, the Hawks have helped PCF raise more than $503,000 through the annual Black History Month Assist Challenge to support lifesaving research through the Prostate Cancer Foundation in addition to generating millions of impressions through various forms of media to inform men of resources for prostate cancer screening, risk reduction, and treatment, including local resources at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University.
As part of last year’s challenge, the Hawks were joined by Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns for their own respective campaigns.
“We are honored that the Hawks have once again joined our efforts to raise awareness and funds for lifesaving prostate cancer research,” said PCF President and CEO Charles J. Ryan, MD. “During Black History Month, PCF and the Hawks are shining a spotlight on the importance of understanding your risk for prostate cancer and knowing your numbers, especially Black men who are disproportionately affected by the disease.”
At Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Emory Healthcare clinicians provide comprehensive care through an extensive network of facilities across the metro area, including medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, diagnostic imaging and other services. Winship launched the first-of-its-kind multi-pronged program to educate and bring awareness to the disease, which affects more than four million men in the United States.
“Winship Cancer Institute and Emory Healthcare are proud to join the Hawks and PCF in educating the community about prostate cancer, addressing disparities in Black men, and raising money to support vital cancer research,” said Winship Executive Director Suresh S. Ramalingam, MD. “Research, care, and education are at the core of Winship’s mission to discover cures for cancer and inspire hope; collaborating on this challenge helps us deliver on that mission.”
Learn more about the Black History Month Assist Challenge and find additional resources provided by Winship Cancer Institute by visiting Hawks.com/PCF.
###
About the Atlanta Hawks
Committed to entertaining and uniting the city of Atlanta since 1968, the Atlanta Hawks & State Farm Arena, under the leadership of Principal Owners Tony Ressler and Jami Gertz, continue to build bridges through basketball by following its True to Atlanta mantra. On the court, the Hawks’ exciting young core is led by All-Star point guard Trae Young as the organization received the NBA’s top ranking in overall in-game experience for the last two seasons. Off the court, the Hawks organization focuses on positively impacting the lives of Atlantans through providing access to youth basketball, fighting food insecurity, and the recent transformation of State Farm Arena into Georgia’s largest-ever voting precinct for the 2020 elections. The Hawks family also includes the College Park Skyhawks (NBA G League) and Hawks Talon Gaming Club (NBA 2K League). Atlanta Hawks Membership, which includes your seat for every home game for the 2022-23 regular season, is on sale now at www.hawks.com/membership or by calling 866-715-1500. For more information on the Hawks, log on to www.hawks.com or follow us on social media @ATLHawks.
About the Prostate Cancer Foundation
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world’s leading philanthropic organization dedicated to funding life-saving prostate cancer research. Founded in 1993 by Mike Milken, PCF has raised close to $1 billion in support of cutting-edge research by more than 2,200 research projects at 245 leading cancer centers in 28 countries around the world. Thanks in part to PCF’s commitment to ending death and suffering from prostate cancer, the death rate is down by over 50 percent and countless more men are alive today as a result. PCF research now impacts more than 73 forms of human cancer by focusing on immunotherapy, the microbiome, and food as medicine. Learn more at www.pcf.org.
About Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
As the only NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center for the state of Georgia, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University discovers, develops and delivers some of the world’s most effective ways to prevent, detect, diagnose and treat each patient’s unique cancer. Winship leverages the depth and breadth of Emory University and collaborates with other NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and leading cancer organizations. Winship has more than 500 faculty members who together received $80 million in cancer research funding in 2020, $33 million of that from NCI. Also, in 2020, Winship enrolled more than 900 people in its 300 cancer clinical trials. For more information, visit Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University.